PlanetCatfish.com

As many of you are aware, it is illegal to have Zebra Pleco's in australia and cannot import them here. I've been inquiring as to why this is. Australian Quarantine Inspection Service has informed me that they are on the restricted list because they are a pest. (Wonder what they think the european carp is....hmmm) Well i'm trying to overturn their decision and have been ringing, writing, emailing and just basically trying to get to the top of the list as to who is in charge of it all. I'm slowly getting there However If i can get enough support from people who would like to see the Zebra for sale in australia then i am going to start an on-line petition to take to the government asking for their restriction to be lifted.

What i'm asking for is, i'm setting up a pro's & Con's list for the Zebra and am after people's opinion's, idea's, feedback, anything you want to contribute would be greatly appreciated, Hopefully if we can get enough interest we can start a petition and bring these beautiful fish to Australia.

I'm 100% behind you on this. I'v read all these government 'reports' on illegal fish but is seems like a lot of garbage to me. I'v been trying to find out a proper reason for months now, if you need any help with your inquieries, e-mail me at patata.3@gmail.com



By the way, it's not just Zebras being banned, fish from Asian Arowana through to Zebra loaches are banned too.

I only know thats its not allowed to import any Fish from the Rest of the World. I am Member of a Cichlid Forum and they have the Problems too. The mostly Cichlids and Plecos are striktly forbidden in Australia.

hi all
although to the more responsable fishkeeper may seem that the authoritys are wrong in banning
certain fishes, one has to look at the whole picture, there would be some people who would
when for whatever reason stop keeping fish would release them into the wild. and this does play havoc with the local fauna and fauna. here in the uk temperate fish from the usa is not allowed on the import list( ) as well as other temperate climate countries. in british water ways such releases have played havoc and some native species are now in the decline.
freshwater crayfish is an example .. the native crayfish in some southern counties
have been wiped out by the bigger none native stuff and this appears to be the norm in all southern counties, and is spreading northward at an alarming rate. in the usa chinese snakeheads are rampant in some states, and recently i have found a reference to zebra danios being found wild in mexico, there are many examples around the world of non-native animals destroying
the native stock, you have already partly answered this yourselves european carp
was brought in to australia for one reason or another and a has displaced native fish..
is just like what happened in new zealand in the 1920's and 1930's some lakes were stocked with european trout and the usa's rainbow trout this was done to appease sport fisherman that wanted to fly fish,i could go on giving reference after reference, but the ones of you that like cichlids should look towards lake victoria..
in alll cases these fish decimated the local fish and in some cases they went the way of the dodo. and although responsable aquarist shun this type of activity there always will be the guys that "don't give a damm" . so i have to agree with the banning of certain species for this reason..

p.s. Zebra plecs may well appear shortly on the endangered list anyway and will be
therefore banned by all (hopefully)

i think a petition to stop, or at least encourage SUSTAINABLE wild harvest would be a better idea.

australia's ecosystem has been ravaged enough by invasive species. i think any action to prevent this is a good idea. but i do feel for the responsible fishkeppers.

Count me in for the petition !!

I find it funny that people will still get these fish in illegaly anyway .
Why not place a licensing system in !
We all know the money paid for different rare fish or birds and so on .

Here in Australia we shoot birds in the thousands because they are a pest BUT in the rest of the world they are worth thousands each now thats stupid.
The goverment could use some of this money towards saving the natural ecosystems around the world and also pay for the policing of this licence.
Keep the price up by - the License cost and the supply limited .
Large breeders should and could start replacing the endangered speices in there natural enviroments. if possible and supply should start coming from them not the rivers.

If we all check what is allowed in our country in regards to fish you would get a nasty shock .On how many illegal fish you have in your tank or at the pet shop down the road.

Wall