Everyone please read!!!! Don't dump fish in the ocean!!

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7848899#post7848899 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by JHemdal
Gabrito,

This is just another reporting of what I believe to be a single point release of exotic marine fish into the Western Atlantic off Palm Beach. Going back a few years, there have ben multiple sightings of Red Sea fishes in this region. People often focus on aquarium hobbyist releases as being the cause, but I believe they are wrong. Think about it, the fish being sighted are things like Sohal tangs, Emperor angels, all sorts of high-value aquarium fish. Now, think about the type of fish that people most often have the urge to dump; panther grouper, batfish, lionfish, blue velvet damsels, bamboo sharks, etc. While some of these fish have also been found in Florida, why so many high value Red sea endemics in just this one area? If I had a Red Sea Emperor that I didn't want any longer, I would have no trouble finding a store to buy it from me! No need to dump fish like that.

Here is what I think: a local fish collector/wholesaler dumped one or more shipments of Red Sea fish into their local waters in the hopes that some would become established, allowing them a ready source of "local" Red Sea fish. That would explain why the epicenter is around Palm Beach county (and not further south around the keys - they would find it difficult to fight the gulf stream heading south). There is a long history of this sort of thing - rumor has it that collectors have tried for years to establish colonies of royal gramma in the Keys that they could then exploit locally, without having to go out to Cay Sal bank, or import them from some Caribbean Island.


Jay Hemdal
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8617618#post8617618 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jblackwell0488
there are no fish importers in palm beach county.. our closest wholesaler is in miami. thats 1 1/2 hours south of us.
i dont think anyone dumped them there to breed them for a local supply. the fish would spread out to much to make for easy collection. it would easier to have them shipped in......as far as fish in the water, i have chased a hippo tank and a pacific yellow tang around the bridge at singer island in west palm beach...people drop fish in the water. thats the fact of life..some would rather let them have their chance in the ocean than put them in a lfs and not know who is getting thier fish...people are funny..they think about the welfair of the fish but not of the impact it has on the area around it.....personally if i see a non- native fish, i will thy to trap or kill it if thats what i have to do...i is worth the trouble rather than risk thier survival and eventual, possable takover of an area......
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HA, I can give you the name of the offender, he use to dump his fish in Pompano Beach Inlet all the time, go diving inside the inlet, its an aquarium now. The fish just have made there way to West Palm Beach, but that is not the Epicenter, Light House Point is.
 
Years ago, my buddy and I personally caught a pacu in a semi private lake. It was about 10 inches long. We threw the pacu into the bottom of the boat, and wouldn't you know it but the conservation officer rolled up on us a short time later. When I was little, I caught a hatchet fish in another lake. And just last year I saw a beautiful fantail goldfish off a pier in lake Michigan.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8625338#post8625338 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by spawner
HA, I can give you the name of the offender, he use to dump his fish in Pompano Beach Inlet all the time, go diving inside the inlet, its an aquarium now. The fish just have made there way to West Palm Beach, but that is not the Epicenter, Light House Point is.
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so you knew about this and did nothing..that pretty much put the blame for the impact on you as well...and now you flaunt it like your proud.....is that what your saying?
 
don't harp on him for that he probabley didn't relize that would happen at the time harp on him for not turning over the name to us and the officials
 
That's ah...kinda sad that someone would feel so good about doing something...or not doing something....like that.

Then again...it's even more sad that people like this make it harder for the rest of us who go out of our way to make sure something like that never happens in the first place.
 
fish in ocean

fish in ocean

give me a break--the red sea bannerfish gets no more than 7 inches in captivity, tell me how a fish that small in the ocean(i dont care if it has 1000 babies every two weeks)can have such an adverse effect on the ecological system, when 9 out 10 it will get eaten byb other large predatory animals--the people who wrote this are p[robably the ones collecting the fish for us at the fish stores
 
so if they have 1000 babies and 9 out of 10 get eaten, that still leaves 100 surviving, then they breed, then the number is 1000 surviving, then 10,000, etc..

then say they like the taste of elkhorn coral..

buh bye coral...

everything impacts everything else, it's the way the world is set up.


an exotic crab is caving in the thames river

plecos are caving in florida canals. oscars, dempseys, green terrors, etc. are eating up all the native fry (and adults of some species) in florida

zebra mussels in the great lakes

the list unfortunately goes on.
 
I have a feeling alot of the shipments get dumped near the airport. An airport worker may be given the task of destroying a skid of fish, and instead of destroying/killing the fish, they decide to dump them in the ocean.
 
Re: fish in ocean

Re: fish in ocean

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8755711#post8755711 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kroger451
give me a break--the red sea bannerfish gets no more than 7 inches in captivity, tell me how a fish that small in the ocean(i dont care if it has 1000 babies every two weeks)can have such an adverse effect on the ecological system, when 9 out 10 it will get eaten byb other large predatory animals...
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I believe that is an invalid argument.
I'm sure there is more than one case out there where introduced animals/organisms reached plague proportions and caused devastation to the native ecology (such as the bunny in Australia for example) despite their size and the presence of larger, potentially "predatory animals."
 
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<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8797593#post8797593 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by nick18tjetta
I have a feeling alot of the shipments get dumped near the airport. An airport worker may be given the task of destroying a skid of fish, and instead of destroying/killing the fish, they decide to dump them in the ocean.
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This is a possibility given all of the other exotic animals that are running around loose in the everglades that were released from shipments coming into the Miami Airport. There are wild Parrots and Monkeys that can be seen on short walks from the airport terminal and periodic stories on the news of large constricting snakes like Boa's trying to eat alligators.
 
all animals on flights fall under the jurisdiction of customs if international, or US/state fish and wildlife. they're not going to release exotics into the environment. they'll kill it if they need to. a baggage handler doesn't have the authority or know how to dispose of an exotic animal.
the boas are from petkeepers that weren't prepared to keep a giant snake and possibly from any one of the reptile breeders that abound down here.
 
Then how do explain the monkeys and extoic birds that have taken up haven in the woods surrounding the airport?
It is well know that exotic animals have "escaped" from customs at the Miami Airport. There have been many documentaries that have shown these animals including interviews with airport personel that admit that the animals do sometimes get out of their shipping containers.
 
got any links? i've never heard of any monkeys running loose anywhere florida. birds? same as reptiles. escapees/releases from an aviary or petkeepers or even illegal immigrants that flew/got blown here. I don't doubt that baggage handlers have dropped holding containers, releasing a few critters. hell, I think it's mandatory for them to slam as many packages to the ground as they can, but F&G and LE are pretty trigger happy, willing to shoot any exotic they don't understand.
anyone remember 'Bobo' the tiger?
 
ive been to steves compound..he goes into the cage and plays with his tigers like they are kittens..its something to see.they are very tame..one came up to the bars where i was standing and put his head right there for me to pet..as i went to pet him steve yelled out to not put my hand near the bars as the tiger would probaly have bitten my hand off as he does not know me and would consider me food... as i walked from cage to cage so i could get to his a/c unit and fix it, the tiger followed me from cage to cage trying to get to me the whole time....if i saw one inthe woods and it was coming for me id blast it also..just because its tame to him doesnt mean it is safe to have around.....just a little bobo insight...
 
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