# Ban on Fish Imports?



## aeri (Sep 9, 2007)

I heard of a rumour about an upcoming ban on importing pet fish into Canada? I couldn't find any information on this, is this true and does anyone know anything about this?


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

I THINK it's this.

http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bi...23&detailPage=bills_detail_the_bill&Intranet=

Which if passed, reading from the extremely ambiguous language, means you can't really sell, keep, or breed anything that can be considered "exotic wildlife" which is defined by the bill as "an animal of a species or type, other than game wildlife or specially protected wildlife, that is not native to Ontario and that in its natural habitat is usually found wild by nature". Not really sure how that applies to fish caught from wild or are typically natural to the wild but have been bred in captivity, but one can argue that something like CPD is found naturally in the wild.


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## AquaticPulse (Jun 19, 2011)

I know some people working in the house. maybe i should have them steal the bill...


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## 50seven (Feb 14, 2010)

But as far as I know you're not allowed to keep native Ontario species captive without a special licence, so basically no pets except for farm animals, LOL. Government people are so brilliant, aren't they? 

Sent from my HTC Magic using Tapatalk


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

> Exotic wildlife
> 47.1 (1) Exotic wildlife means an animal of a species or type, other than game wildlife or specially protected wildlife, that is not native to Ontario and that *in its natural habitat is usually found wild by nature* and includes a species prescribed by the regulations.


That makes no sense to me. The only animal that *isn't* found "wild by nature" in its natural habitat are _**** sapiens_...


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## AquaticPulse (Jun 19, 2011)

I don't think it has passed yet so we shouldn't worry. it'll probably blow over. I predict it'll just be the "import of species". So we'll just have to get our fish from people that breed fish within the border.


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## Guest (Nov 7, 2011)

It is aimed at exotics like big cats, hoofed animals, monkeys etc that have no place as pets. The bill has passed first reading and still has some major roadblocks before assent, especially in a minority government situation. Many amendments, clarifications will be brought forth before it becomes law. I support the motives of the bill but will of course want a more comprehensive list of affected animals, sort of like how the City of Toronto has in their animal bylaw

It will hopefully prevent stuff like the idiot in Ohio who amassed a collection of exotics, released them, then killed himself which led to almost all of the freed animals being shot.

There is no reason for a private individual to be keeping these animals as pets. In many cases it's basically a loaded gun waiting to go off or the animals languish until they die because the owner has little clue on how to properly take care or house them. 

The changes in regulations that will affect the aquarium industry are federal and will come into effect on December 10th. It has been discussed on this forum extensively already. Do a search.


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## Guest (Nov 7, 2011)

thinkshane said:


> So we'll just have to get our fish from people that breed fish within the border.


If this was the case then the variety of species available to us would dwindle over a short period of time and the prices would climb steadily. Except for cichlids and a small group other species the vast majority of aquarium fish are imported. The overhead to commercially breed aquarium fish in Canada is too high to sustain current pricing. There have been attempts and there are some successes but mostly it is unsuccessful.

The aquarium hobby would die a slow death. The marine hobby would die much quicker.


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## splur (May 11, 2011)

Oh, I see.

http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/imp/petani/fispoie.shtml

That's intense... they're taking out some pretty common fish you see in fish stores.


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## Guest (Nov 7, 2011)

splur said:


> Oh, I see.
> 
> http://www.inspection.gc.ca/english/anima/imp/petani/fispoie.shtml
> 
> That's intense... they're taking out some pretty common fish you see in fish stores.


exactly.

It doesn't mean an outright ban on imports of the listed fish. They will just require health certificates as to being free of the listed disease


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## vaporize (Apr 10, 2006)

that's quite expensive to buy goldfish & guppies ...


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## Web Wheeler (May 13, 2006)

h_s said:


> It is aimed at exotics like big cats, hoofed animals, monkeys etc that have no place as pets. The bill has passed first reading and still has some major roadblocks before assent, especially in a minority government situation. Many amendments, clarifications will be brought forth before it becomes law. I support the motives of the bill but will of course want a more comprehensive list of affected animals, sort of like how the City of Toronto has in their animal bylaw
> 
> It will hopefully prevent stuff like the idiot in Ohio who amassed a collection of exotics, released them, then killed himself which led to almost all of the freed animals being shot.
> 
> ...


Be careful what you wish for Harold. Councilor Glenn De Baeremaeker, the author of Bill 125, Exotic Wildlife in Captivity Act, is a vegan and would like nothing better than to see the entire world go vegan. I also suspect he is an animal rights activist, or at least he has close ties to animal rights groups.

Animal rights groups intentionally introduce vague laws so they can twist them to their liking at a later date. For example, just look at the legislation in California that HSUS got passed concerning chicken farming. The legislation states that farmed chickens must be able to stand up, turn around and stretch their wings. Now HSUS is saying that this means "cage free".

Bill 125, Exotic Wildlife in Captivity Act, is not limited to just big cats, hoofed animals and monkeys, but would also apply to any exotic cat, any exotic hoofed animal, any monkey, lemur, etc., many of which would pose little to no danger to the general public if kept as pets. Also, as noted earlier, this bill could indeed be construed to include exotic tropical fish and reptiles.

Here's a link to a video that Councilor De Baeremaeker produced:









Concerning the individual in Ohio, I am reminded of the following quote:

_"To ban guns because criminals use them is to tell the innocent and law-abiding that their rights and liberties depend not on their own conduct, but on the conduct of the guilty and the lawless, and that the law will permit them to have only such rights and liberties as the lawless will allow... For society does not control crime, ever, by forcing the law-abiding to accommodate themselves to the expected behavior of criminals. Society controls crime by forcing the criminals to accommodate themselves to the expected behavior of the law-abiding."
-- Jeff Snyder, Oct 20, 1994_

Except, in this case, the ban is on exotic animals.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Think you're supporting the environment with these blanket bans?
Think again.


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## bigfishy (Jun 19, 2009)

time to stock up on stingrays...

I also heard there's a ban on exporting wild P13 stingray from Brazil


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## bettaforu (Sep 6, 2009)

I think it has a lot to do with people bringing in invasive species like snakeheads, aligator gars and some of the bigger catfish species. 

When these fish get too big and the individuals owning them can't find big enough tanks or just don't want them any more, they end up releasing them into the lakes and rivers and these fish eat our native ones, and end up being the ONLY ones left in the waterways.

I watched quite a few documentaries on these fish and what a devastation they can make to other fish! I think the ban is to help control that, not to stop the aquarium trade ( that would be biting off their own noses so to speak, as they get a nice fat cut of that trade) The amount of people who have fish/reptiles now has doubled maybe even trebled in the past 10 years, so it would be extremely stupid of the Government to pass such a bill.

Also the big cats and exotic animals need to be controlled. Geez I would love a tiger, but Im not stupid enough to go buy one and end up being " lunch " because I did something stupid and the cat attacked....those people need their heads screwed back on!


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