Check your local Invasive Specie list before buying new plants or animals

[dagray]

I would urge each and every member of this board to get a copy periodically of your state's Invasive Specie list so that you know which plants, fish, and other animals (be they for an aquarium or not) are legal to keep, and even more importantly legal to import to your state should you be purchasing from Aquabid, or an online retailer.


Invasive species change from state to state as in WA they can have a Butterfly Bush, and in OR it is considered invasive. Weather Loach in WA is legal, and in OR it is invasive. Crawfish in WA are legal, in OR they are considered invasive.

Get the point?

This is not a jab at anyone here, but a friendly reminder to help you stay away from fines, and to help keep it so the rest of us can continue to enjoy our hobbies with lower amounts of regulation imposed upon us by laws created.

[Ryan]

There is a difference between invasive and illegal, though.

In Florida, nearly every New World cichlid is on our invasive species list: oscars, JD, Mayan cichlids, etc. They are well-established in the waterways in south Florida. However, none of those fish are illegal to own/purchase. There is a separate list for that.

[dagray]

different states do have different rules. Here in Oregon and in Washington (I live on the border in Eastern Oregon on the Columbia river) invasive specie are illegal to be sold, traded, bred, kept.

I can't order a butterfly bush, but I can go across the river to buy one from a garden shop, but the second I bring it across the state line I am subject to penalties.

Some pet stores (mom and pop stores as well as chains) have been levied pretty hefty fines for selling Red Eared Slider turtles here in OR, but those are legal in WA.

The point I am trying to make is check your rules so that we don't have our hobby shut down or regulated any heavier than it is, and to be responsible with your flora and fauna (i.e. don't turn your 30 foot Reticulated Python out in your back yard if you live in Florida).

[brewmaster15]

Dave,
Agree..everyone should check their lists and be aware...I might add also be sure to check your states website for alerts on invasives pests that are currently a top priority...for instance in CT... they are seriously concerned and monitoring for the Asian Long Horn beetle and the Emerald Ash Borer.Two highly destructive pests .

Al

[Solid]

I would also like to put out there these invasive species lists are there for a reason. Everyone should be careful not to throw out trimmings of any aquarium plant, whether listed as invasive or not, into a body of water or or in the drain as some drains can empty out to local bodies of water.