Why is it legal to catch fish but illegal to catch fish for your aquarium?

[scottischicken]

Why is it legal to catch fish (for game or consumption - I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area) but illegal to catch fish for your home aquarium? Why did they make that law in the first place? What could possibly go wrong?

 

[AGeese]

This is sort of a non-specific question. There could be protected species laws in your area, it could be considered trafficking species, and it could be because certain fish might be considered invasive if they were to get loose in the wrong environment, and become a pest or predator with no natural predators of itself.

Have you posted in your state thread?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Why is it legal to catch fish (for game or consumption - I'm in the San Francisco Bay Area) but illegal to catch fish for your home aquarium? Why did they make that law in the first place? What could possibly go wrong?

Same reason you can't catch a deer or wild turkey and keep it

 

[Gizabelle]

It is also a potential bio security hazard.
An amphibian fungus first identified in Australia spread around the globe through the pet trade and has caused the extinction of at least 90 species. When you take something from the wild, you never know what else is coming with it, and when it is legal to collect from the wild, anyone can and will.
Possibly worse though, is the potential of someone returning a wild caught specimen after having kept it in captivity for a while. Releasing a native species that may have picked up who knows what from other aquarium fish and introducing a new pathogen to that ecosystem could be devastating.

 

[Seaslug]

Possibly worse though, is the potential of someone returning a wild caught specimen after having kept it in captivity for a while. Releasing a native species that may have picked up who knows what from other aquarium fish and introducing a new pathogen to that ecosystem could be devastating.

This is a huge concern. While removal of animals for the pet trade can be devastating to that population and a great number of animals removed end up quickly perishing, an animal being returned to its native habitat after living in captivity, surrounded by non-native animals and in an artificial environment, is potentially putting not only its local population but its species and others at risk for novel, devastating pathogens.

 

[cassie]

I have no idea, but I personally wouldn't worry about it. Of all the reasons the police might haul me off in handcuffs having an illegal fish in my aquarium would be pretty low on the list.