Mango4Jade Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 OMG! Better shut my mouth... The possession of illegally imported animals (or their offspring) is an offence under Section 303GN of the EPBC Act...The penalty for illegal possession under the EPBC Act is imprisonment of up to 5 years and/or a fine of up to $110,000. Hmm...so Plecos and Silver Arowanas are illegal too? There seems to be more illegal fish at lfs than not illegals....so if one doesnt know its illegal...do they still get in trouble? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted December 28, 2005 Report Share Posted December 28, 2005 yes, it doesn't sound like the possession offence requires you to KNOW that it is illegal. It's like if you are growing salvinia or water hyacinth. You can cop a whopping fine whether you knew or not. BUT I daresay there is some discretion regarding the imposition of a penalty. If a judge believes that you didn't know, they are not likely to smack you with the largest fine. You would still have the costs of your defence though, and you may be ordered to pay some sort of penalty, just not the $110,000. (probelm is, you DO know...) Vicki, that is great, thank you. I will post a link in the Library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Are bettas CITES listed? What if you have 3rd generation fish from originally illegally imported Arowanas? Are they still illegal? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VickiPS Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Are bettas CITES listed? There are no betta species listed in the Appendices to the CITES Agreement. What if you have 3rd generation fish from originally illegally imported Arowanas? Are they still illegal? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> According to the DEH information, possession of the offspring of illegally imported animals is an offence. As with any other offence, there would have to proof that the fish in question is the offspring of an illegally-imported fish. However, since it seems to be the case that no Asian arowanas have ever been imported legally for the purpose of being kept by private individuals, posession of one would presumably reverse the onus of proof ie. the person would have to prove that the fish was legally in the country and legally acquired. Scientific organisations (eg. universities, museums) can obtain permits to legally import CITES-listed specimens. I haven't looked up more detailed information, but I would not expect that it would be usual for a museum or university to dispose of such a specimen, or the offspring of one, in the private commercial market. So it's difficult to identify a scenario in which an Asian arowana could be legally on the market here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishchick Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 Well done Vicki, you have been busy with your research! What it comes down to is time x effort vs reward. Once the fish is in the country it tends to fall into the "too hard" basket. The main focus is to try and stop the smuggling in the first place. Catch those with the goods before they are distributed. All the same, if you have an illegal fish - especially one that is CITES listed, I wouldn't be drawing attention to myself. As for bristlenose and the like - there were a lot of fish already in the country before the "allowable import" list was put in place. So although many fish - especially the Cichlid family, are not allowed to be imported, they are freely traded in the hobby. Anything on the noxious list for your state is illegal no matter what (even if they were released into the waterways by the local council for 20 years!) Cheers, J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 I know with carp the rule is if yo catch one, you are not allowed to throw it back in. But if you caught Gambusia to feed to your eel (hypothetically) it seems like a bit of a bugger to get fined for having it, since you could only catch it because the council released it in the first place. Nevertheless, noxious = noxious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted December 29, 2005 Report Share Posted December 29, 2005 But if you caught Gambusia to feed to your eel (hypothetically) it seems like a bit of a bugger to get fined for having it, since you could only catch it because the council released it in the first place. Nevertheless, noxious = noxious. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> I used to catch them as a little kid.. I used to think they were cute :blush: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hood Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 This is good info, as there are a lot of guys out there trying to import these arowanas into Australia. They will tell you it is ok, because it is CITES certified... However if your caught with the fish, you will be facing a minimum of $10,000 or 10 years in jail, according to my local fish store owner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 It's probably best to check current info though as this thread is 5 years old - there's been a few changes to the laws and regulations over the years.... and each state has different legislation still.... There was a thread on here somewhere that listed a lot of the state websites referring to the legislation which is worth checking out as the noxious fish lists have changed I think... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hood Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 So some of their claims that they are allowed to import them may be legitimate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 Doubt it.... none of the arrowana species that I know of are on the permitted import list for Australia.... no legal way to import them at all as far as I can see... if they're not on the permitted list then they need an import risk analysis.... and I'm sure you're aware of the current IRA that proposes killing up to 100% of an import batch to test for iridoviruses! Could be a costly exercise to get them on the current permitted import list.... The permitted list changes from time to time - Any fish species not listed on the Live Ornamental Fish: Permitted Species Import List will be exported or destroyed, while prohibited material or material of quarantine concern will be seized and destroyed, all at the importer's expense.... fish can also only be imported from these approved countries.... Belgium, China, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States of America Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briztoon Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 fish can also only be imported from these approved countries.... Belgium, China, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Germany, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Thailand, United States of America. While it is true that fish can only be imported from the afore mentioned countries, and only for certain designated exporters in each country, it doesn't mean that the fish originated from whithin these countries. From time to time wild South American cichlids show up on BayFish and AI's import lists. Usually these species are wild caught, shipped to Germany or Thailand, and then onto Australia. I also believe Fishchicks recent wild caught Betta bonanza saw the fish flown from Indonesia to Thailand, then onto Australia. It's also worth questioning whether German imported stock are German bred. Many apistos are bred in the Czech Republic these days, exported to Germany and then on sold from sources such as Glasser. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbites Posted December 23, 2010 Report Share Posted December 23, 2010 True Briztoon..... that does happen and as long as they've got the right bits of paper from the shipping country its all above board as they have been through quarantine to get into that country and then have the vet checks to get out again.... the deal with the Indonesia -> Thailand bit with the Bettas is more economics though I think - most of the main "Betta" countries are on the list of countries we can import from but economically it's cheaper to combine all imports through one large shipment and pay for one lot of inspection fees.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rojak Posted March 24, 2011 Report Share Posted March 24, 2011 Asian Arowana is illegal in Australia. Fish that are tagged are good for country that allow Asian Arowana, not Australia. a good x-back blue can easily fetch more than 10k aud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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