Duv Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 (edited) I found out today that it is illegal to transport, breed, swap, trade, sell fish in Tasmania or even MOVE HOUSE with your fish unless you have a fish dealer permit thingy. There is a comercial fish farm in Launceston who breed their fish (obviously they have a breeder permit) then send them to Sydney to be sent back to Tasmanian fish shops!!!! AARRRGGGGHHHHH I am soooooo angry!!!!! How backwards can a place be?! And apparently this is all because they found a few koi in a couple of lakes here. This includes ALL fish wether tropical, coldwater or Marine. Apparently you are not even supposed to diposed of water from your aquarium down sinks, drains or toilets. What the......... are you supposed to do with it? Keep it in a giant tank??? From what I can gather its to stop the fish from taking over the local water ways. This I can understand but then the IFS breed and dump TROUT into our native waterways for guys to fish for!? Trout are far more damaging to the local eco-system then what might be accidently flushed down the sink. I'm about to email the Inland Fisheries Service and ask them for more info. Ok vent kinda over.... edit to add: Forgot to say, if any of your fish "accidentaly" spawn your supposed to cull any fry you don't have room for personally. Edited April 29, 2009 by Duv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 You would think if it was that big a deal it would be more generally known that you weren't allowed to transport fish anywhere. How are you supposed to get your purchase from the fish shop to your house? And how is that different from moving fish from one house to another? Do the fish shops educate their customers on the laws in relation to disposal or waste water? Or transportation? How are hobbyists supposed to know this? How do they police it anyway? Do they do random moving van inspections in case you got a goldfish bowl in there? Where did you get this info from? There's a lot that doesn't seem to make sense here. Keep us posted on how you go getting further info from IFS. I'd love to know the full story. Good on you for persisting with finding out about this though. I would have given up ages ago and just resigned myself to veiltails. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted April 18, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 You would think if it was that big a deal it would be more generally known that you weren't allowed to transport fish anywhere. How are you supposed to get your purchase from the fish shop to your house? And how is that different from moving fish from one house to another? How are hobbyists supposed to know this? Well this is a question I'm going to ask. There must be some sort of emxemption of something. Good question!!! another one I plan on asking. Are you reading my mind or something???? Do the fish shops educate their customers on the laws in relation to disposal or waste water? Or transportation? Nope not at all. I had no idea till I looked it up today after talking to a guy in the LFS. How do they police it anyway? Do they do random moving van inspections in case you got a goldfish bowl in there? Hmm not sure really I think theres a bit of a 'shhh if you don't tell we won't ask' type thing when you move. Where did you get this info from? It started by me asking at the LFS today if he would be interested in buying locally bred Betta's. His reply was basically, "No it is against the law. You need to have a permit to sell them in Tasmania." He then proceeded to tell me about the fish breeder in Launceston who ships to Sydney. Apparently the parent company of the fish farm have a permit thing to sell in Tas so they ship to them instead of getting a permit o.O I then rang another pet shop/fish shop and asked them the same thing. "Would you be interested in buying Betta's" His reply was that he isn't supposed to but he maybe able to trade me some fish food for them. He would also only take males. I then started looking it up online and came across a little site here There are many threads there about it like this one and this one and then there's this one (you'll need to scroll about halfway down for it to start), the list goes on and on. I then found some other info but it's all over the place so I think it will be easier to get it from the horses mouth so to speak. There's a lot that doesn't seem to make sense here. Keep us posted on how you go getting further info from IFS. I'd love to know the full story. Good on you for persisting with finding out about this though. I would have given up ages ago and just resigned myself to veiltails. your telling me??!! lol Will do. Your not the only one who wants to know whats going on. Thanks Don't get me wrong I love my veiltails but there are some other gorgeous fin types that I simply MUST have hehe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted April 18, 2009 Report Share Posted April 18, 2009 I think, and I could be wrong, but I think there are similar rules in most other states as well. It seems so short-sighted to me that hobbyists and fishkeepers are lumped in with aquaculturists, wholesalers, importers, and commercial fishing enterprises, but that is Fisheries for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 a bit OT .. but presumably you can chuck your waste water on the garden. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terribletegs Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Reminds me of when I thought I would research doing 'the right thing' and find out if I need a licence to sell my guppies in NSW. Turns out by the word of the law, I do; any fish 'bred ór raised for sale' counts me in as a commercial fishery!!! What REALLY bites hairy donkey butt is that they want to charge me, get this, (can't remember numbers exactly but): about $550 startup fee, and then a further charge of $250 annually! I laughed at the guy and told him that there were a lot of people out there breaking the law then! I would be lucky to LOSE only $250 p/a keeping my fishroom going, let alone breaking even or even making a profit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Queenserpentine Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 ouch! that really does suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 That is pretty much the way it goes. I try my best to keep up with all the licencing and laws, but some of them are a little bit weird to say the least. Hobbyists must make up such a small proportion of the overall aquaculture/fishing industry that I often get the impression we only factor as a mere annoyance that serves to threaten the overall industry with disease and destruction. *huff* Realistically though, every time I've spoken to people at fisheries, they've been pretty good about things. They explain the rules, they explain what they are aiming for with those rules, and they are careful not to ask certain questions. There are limited by resources more than anything else and if they were to chase after every Tom Dick and Harry who sold 3 guppies to the LFS they'd never get anything of consequence done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted April 19, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 Thanks for your responses guys. I would be very interested in what the laws are in other states for comparison reasons. No one here can sell fish to any pet shop as most won't even consider buying them from non-registered breeders as the fine is huge. You also can't advertise them as give aways anywhere because you'll be fined. I'm just horrified that you have to kill every healthy fry just because you don't have the room for them. I emailed IFS last night so will have to wait till at least tomorrow to get a response. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fishchick Posted April 19, 2009 Report Share Posted April 19, 2009 hmm, yes - you are expected to throw the water onto your garden....where presumably it can run into a waterway (still complete with pathogens) but you can't put into sewage, which is treated. Go figure. In quarantine rooms the waste water is supposed to be treated (usually with bleach and then neutralised) before being released. The bleach must be in contact for 24hrs under agitation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Well I finally got a response by contacting the Tasmanian minister for Primary Industries and Water. One of his 'helpers' (can't think of the right term) sent my email to the Deputy Director of the Tasmanian Inland Fisheries Service. The email I sent to the minister is as follows Dear Mr ******* It has been brought to my attention by a local pet shop that there are certain laws regarding the breeding, selling and trade of tropical aquarium fish. As a tropical fish hobbyist, I would like to be informed about these laws. I have been in contact with a couple of people from the Inland Fisheries Service to try and find out what these laws are but have yet to receive a response. I have also searched the IFS website to no avail. If you could please let me know what these laws are or how to find out about them, it would be greatly appreciated. Kind Regards The Deputy Director responed with I refer to your email to Mr Llewellyn today concerning the above and advise as follows. Section 60 to Section 67 of the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 details the requirements relating to those who deal in freshwater fish and Section 149 to 153 of the Inland Fisheries Act 1995 covers the declaration of controlled fish and associated powers. I attach for your information details of Permissible Freshwater Tropical Fish Species. After having read through the relevant sections of the act, I came across something about applying to become a "fish dealer" so I sent an email asking where I could find more information about becoming a dealer and the costs involved. I got the following response The fees for a fish dealer application are currently $64.00 for 2008/2009 and will be $66.50 for 2009/2010. The issue of the Certificate of Registration is $25.60 moving to $26.60 next financial year. The application for renewal is $32.00 moving to $33.25 and the issue of the Certificate of Renewal is the same as the certificate of Registration. I attach a copy of the current application for your information. This seems fairly reasonable to me but I have asked him for confirmation that the registration also covers being able to import or wether I need the other permit to import. The next step will be talking to the local council to see if there are any local regulations that I need to comply with. Persistance pays off!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyarlla Posted April 29, 2009 Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Far out, what an ordeal just to move house with some pet fish! I admire your patience and persistence. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted April 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 29, 2009 Thanks Lyarlla It's not actually related to moving house but my want to breed the guys I have and also importing new bettas to breed and sell locally. I want to introduce new varieties into Tasmania instead of the normal veiltail available here. I have only ever seen 2 crown tails here and I own one of them now :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted May 1, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 1, 2009 Ok got some more info. The above mentioned Fish Dealer permit only allows you to import and sell aquarium fish to the public. If you want to breed and sell the fry to lfs then you need a a fish farm license which is $192 application fee and $192 issuance fee. :dance: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted May 2, 2009 Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 Hopefully if you fork that out and you can source some nice fish to breed, you'll make your money back. :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted May 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 2, 2009 The problem is they don't think of hobby level breeding, its all aimed at commercial enterprises. And considering I rent the house I live in, I don't think they'd like me running a fish farm from here lol I think I may end up talking to my local MP to get them to talk to the IFS for me No harm in trying :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael Posted May 4, 2009 Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 well i think this is a good idea there is that many fish running wild up here its not funny. and as for all the fish that have growth hormones and sex hormones (IMPORTS) we do need to wake up!! Quarantine does matter!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duv Posted May 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 4, 2009 I do agree with you Michael. I just think they need to have a 'smaller' version of their fish farm license so hobbyists can sell on to pet shops. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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