Soon, you may not be able to sell your pet fish! Why?

[mrbradleybradley]

Since Bonsai and koi tend to go together, I though it appropriate to post this information. If admin feels this post should not be here, please feel free to remove it. If this happens, it may very well restrict the ability of the koi hobby to continue.

Soon, you may not be able to sell your pet fish! Why?

What would you do if you were told, that in order to sell fish from your private collection of pets, that you needed to obtain an aquaculture permit? It does not matter that you are not an aquaculture business, merely the desire to sell some of your fish makes it necessary for you to.

It has recently come to my attention that the NSW Department of Primary Industries intends to make changes in the way a pet owner may sell or dispose of unwanted fish. Essentially, the average pet owner who may want to sell any of their koi will be required to obtain an aquaculture permit in order to do so. By sell, this includes, exchange, barter and auctions.

Here are a few of the most common examples of when you would need an aquaculture permit.

- You have a few fish that you bought when they were very small and now they have outgrown their pond so you try to sell them.

- You are leaving the hobby. So you want sell them.

- You want to sell some at a club auction. The club will need to be able confirm each seller holds an aquaculture permit. You do not want to sell koi at every auction, just occasionally, so obtaining a permit is perhaps not worth the effort and cost for one auction or so a year. Since Clubs rely considerably on some money earned from club auctions, without this financial support, it is possible that the club may no longer be financially viable, or may need to cut other costs, including the staging of shows, publishing their magazine and providing educational resources to its members.

There are bound to be many more examples, but these are probably the most common reasons a pet owner would wish to sell their koi.

I do not except that the average pet koi owner would be willing to pay the required fees, nor make the necessary changes to comply with the aquaculture permit requirements. Our ponds are filled with pet fish, not with aquaculture fish and we do not set up our ponds to undertake aquaculture.

When you first buy a koi, if you are aware that you cannot resell them at a later date, chances are you will think twice about joining the hobby.

When you want to dispose of any unwanted koi, rather than go to the trouble, many will opt for illegal trade or illegal dumping.

Please help stop the need for a fish pet owner to obtain an aquaculture permit by writing to the following people:

Address
The Hon. Ian Macdonald,
Minister for Primary Industries,
Parliament House,
Macquarie Street,
Sydney NSW 2000
Fax: (02) 9230 3032
Email: macdonald.office@macdonald.minister.nsw.gov.au

If you reside in NSW you should also write to your NSW member

Here is an example letter to get you started.

To The Hon. Ian Macdonald

Soon, I may not be able to sell any of my pet fish! Why?

I am an average koi keeper. It has come to my attention that the NSW Department of Primary Industries intends to require a koi pet owner to obtain an aquaculture permit should they wish to sell any of their pet fish. As a koi keeper I am not an aquaculture producer, nor am I an aquaculture business. I simply love our koi and wish to keep it that way.

My pond is filled with pet fish, not with aquaculture fish and I did not set up our pond to undertake aquaculture. Asking me to obtain an aquaculture permit is not in the spirit of the Australian "fair go", nor is it the spirit of our love for hobby and leisure time. I am simply asking that you will allow a koi pet owner to be able to sell, swap or trade between other koi keepers as we are now, as a pet owner, not as a commercial aquaculture business.

King Regards,

[mrbradleybradley]

If a koi club is unable to conduct an auction it would significantly impact on the viability. It may result in the likes of the Fairfield Show not happening in it's current size and form. This show attracts many thousands of visitors each year. It is a great advertisiment for this and the other associated hobbies, including a great bonsai display.

[daiviet_nguyen]

Hi mrbradleybradley,

I am not a koi person, but I do concur with you. I would like to suggest an online petition.

Please go to http://www.google.com.au . Type in "petition site", and select "pages from Australia",
you will get some free services for online petition. And they are legal too.

Best regards.

[Paloma]

Koi are illegal in Queensland & Victoria; a declared exotic species in South Australia; a controlled species in Tasmania and their import to Australia is banned under Commonwealth law. Restrictions are also being applied in NSW and are under serious review in WA. They are merely coloured Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and are therefore a noxious, invasive pest species.

For those who don't know the environmental damage they cause, think of them as the Cane Toads of the Waterways and you're getting close. The inland rivers of NSW and Victoria are infested with them, to the detriment of native species. Goldfish are often confused with Koi and Carp, but are an entirely different species. However, introducing Goldfish (Carassius auratus) to waterways by using them as live bait is still illegal.

[mrbradleybradley]

If these changes go ahead, more people will dump their unwanted fish into waterways as they will have less options.

[kcpoole]

hi paloma.

Whatever the curent status of our waterways, is not relevant to the ability to trade the fish. as Mrbradley says if they cannot be sold then they will be dumped i reckon.

If you do agree that Carp shoud be allowed to be kept them petition to have them made illegal. As far as I am concerned,
Cats are a much larger problem and shoud be banned first.
They go feral and destroy our native Fauna atr a great rate. but in the urban area they also impact on people who do not like them but we cannot do anything about it.
I get them here that make nookie when on heat and keep me awake at night. They dig my gardens and make mess in my yard. They knock my trees over.

the sale of koi maybe shodu be monitored and only club members can trade in them or something similar maybe

Ken

[Asus101]

hi paloma.

Whatever the curent status of our waterways, is not relevant to the ability to trade the fish. as Mrbradley says if they cannot be sold then they will be dumped i reckon.

If you do agree that Carp should be allowed to be kept them petition to have them made illegal. As far as I am concerned,
Cats are a much larger problem and should be banned first.


Ken

Well.....
I guess you have never tried fishing in the Murry river?? Carp as it is are doing as much damage to native fish stocks as cats are..

Its simple really, you wanna keep these fish do the right thing and get a permit. I mean hell you need permits to keep even the basic of native animals why should evasive pests be free range?
Do the right thing, take the changes, be responsible and everything will be ok.

[Steven]

If these changes go ahead, more people will dump their unwanted fish into waterways as they will have less options.

That's the key Bradley!

As a Koi keeper and property owner (with fresh waterways) I can see the argument from both sides. I strongly oppose the introduction of this bill because as Bradley states, it will result in more introduced fish in our waterways. The European Carp are wreaking havoc in Australian waterways and have wiped out the native fish and crustaceans in some areas. This is bad but it also carries on down the food chain. Platypus rely on Yabbies and freshwater prawns as a primary food source and if these crustaceans are wiped out by the carp, what will the Platypus eat?

I will definitely be writing to Mr. MacDonald!

Steven

[Asus101]

So whats wrong with knocking the unwanted koi on the head and sticking them in ice water?
Why do they need to be dumped in the waterways?

[kcpoole]

So whats wrong with knocking the unwanted koi on the head and sticking them in ice water?
Why do they need to be dumped in the waterways?

Because people won;t kill an animal to get rid of it. They will just let it go and be forgotten

As you mention the Murray and Darling rivers ( and most others), have been devastated by Carp and I highly agree with you and would love to be able to work out a way to eradicate them. I do my bit by bying and using "Charlie Carp" as my liquid fertilisers

My point re cats is they do as much damage to our native environment, but also devastate Suburbia ans well. I woudl love to get rid of all of them too

[mrbradleybradley]

Think about this - If you are young and say 18, buy a few fish and then get bored of them, needing to obtain a permit that is currently approx. $1000 without all the other qualifying & compliance costs is going to close down the options for such a person. Seriously, an environmentally friendly means of disposing of unwanted fish should be easy, available and affordable.

[Asus101]

Seriously, an environmentally friendly means of disposing of unwanted fish should be easy, available and affordable.

Knock them on the head and stick them in ice water.... Easy, environmentally friendly and very affordable.

[Jarrod]

sorry, what the hell is the ice water for? just bury them in you vege patch!

[Asus101]

Its more humane that way...

[Jarrod]

I believe that there will be an increase of koi being dumped if the licence requirements come in.

We cant even own koi in Victoria, full stop.