Sign this petition to keep redtail catfish and pacus legal!

[PhishMon84]

I'm definitely in the camp of being a Responsible consumer and voting with my dollar. Your spend has consequences. I live in a state with a black list, its much better than a white list.

but so many things end up black listed due to misinformation, sensationalism and little common sense.

Pacu are illegal in MA because supposedly they found one in a lake in NH- well if they did, it wasn't there long because it wouldn't survive the winter.

Snakeheads are illegal because of some BS news story out of NJ that they could walk and eat pets... anyone every seen a snakehead out of water? its not walking, its just like any other fish out of water- just can breath atmospheric oxygen- and its only eating your pet if you have a small rodent that is already dead.

 

[jjohnwm]

Does anyone recall when Clarias cats were the darling of the hand-wringing "The end is near!" types? I was a kid who devoured the National Geographic magazine each month when it arrived, and recall the horrifying account of these ghoulish catfish that were conquering Florida. Dogs and cats fell before the onslaught...kids were supposedly being kept indoors at night (they were apparently left out to run wild before the invasion)...native species were being wiped out wholesale.

Nowadays, snakeheads are The New Walking Cats...until the next Creature From Hell is released from some a-hole's aquarium....

Dang it, there ought to be a law...

 

[surfermike915]

Well, I am too all for education before you purchase an animal, especially one that grows to sizes like a redtail. But I am NOT for banning anything. Like said above the Gov't and other high powers have so much power over us, why give them more? Gives them more utter control. Realistically, you will never be able to 100% ensure a fish or other animal will get an amazing life when they are purchased from a store. expo, or online; sad reality of it. But blacklisting a fish and regulating takes away another amazing species for those who are doing things right. I believe it is our job to inform and educate others about commonly sold big fish as hobbyists. As hobbyists we double as conservationists/educators so we need to do such.
Banning something right out does nothing except lead to illegal trafficking and other issues. Just my two sense though...