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What native fish are legal to keep?


HaNs

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I have been told that some are illegal to keep and have to get permission to catch them. There does not seam to be a list as such to what you can keep

One of the pages that Pete posted has a list of the conservation status of some the native fish.

http://www.nzfreshwater.org/index_aquaria.html

If you find any of those species in your back garden then DOC would probably be quite pleased to get a call from you ;) Chances are anything you catch in an urban or farm stream is probably not an endangered species.

Cheers

Ian

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Doc just email'd me back and said

"Hi , apparently only whitebaid and bullies" are the ones you cant keep

I would love a Lamprey, Short Finned Eel and a Torrentfish among others. Finding them will be the hard part

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Lamprey juveniles (ammocoetes) live in burrows in silty river edges and migrate out to sea after 4-5 years. Whilst at sea, the lamprey are parasites on marine life until, after another 4-5 years they migrate back up streams to breed and die. Maori consider lamprey or piharau to be a delicacy. They are threatened fish.

Not like i will ever find one

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lampreys are AWESOME!!! When they come back into freshwater to spawn they give up eating altogether. They can go up to two years like this, so if you catch an adult in a river you don't even need to feed them. Coz they're parasites makes it a bit hard to keep them otherwise!

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I have posted the information a here number of times on what the legalities are regarding keeping natives.

I can't be bothered writing out the plain English version again. so here is the technical version from someone I know in DoC. I have passed it through several DoC fish specialists who have confirmed this is accurate:

***

Well there is no legislation that prevents people taking native freshwater fish for aquariums from a 'normal' (e.g., unprotected) river/stream/wetland etc. However there are some controls such as: if it is DOC land e.g, a national park or reserve then there will be collection restrictions and will require DOC permission. In terms of transfer to another waterbody, s26ZM of the Conservation Act requires that any live aquatic life that is to be transfered into freshwater (defined as a waterbody that is a natural waterway or has connections with a natural waterway, including during flooding etc) requires permission. If the aquatic life does not already exist in the waterbody then DOC approval is required. If the aquatic life does already exist then Minister of Fisheries approval is required. If you are shifting aquatic life between the North and South Islands then you will need an Inter-Island transfer permit from Minister of Fisheries.

The right to take koura (and any other indigenous fish) from Lake Taupo is reserved exclusively to Tuwharetoa iwi and only the Tuwharetoa Maori Trust Board may authorise their sale (Maori Land Amendment and Maori Land Claims Adjustment Act 1926). If it's outside the Tuwharetoa rohe, then taking of koura by any person for non-commercial purposes is legal under the Freshwater Fisheries Regulations. There are provisions under the Conservation Act for the D-G to impose conditions or prohibit fishing for koura (s.26ZL). But if the stream is on private property, ie has no legal public access in or beside it, then the landowners could exercise de facto control of koura fishing by limiting access for only those activities they allowed.

***

Stella

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Shortened version... you can go down to the stream at the back of your section and catch a few bullies / inanga / koura and put them in your fish tank.

yup, pretty much, and ONLY put them back where they came from, never a different stream (even if it is more convenient for you)

Pegasus, I could write something simple about it to go somewhere.... Here the answer is buried on page three following a lot of 'it is (partly) illegal' posts.... Don't know the best way to do it.

(I am writing a book on how to keep these guys in tanks, which is why I needed to know what the law really was. It took a lot of badgering of poor DoC people as it is confusing even for them. So I am pretty confident it is correct now.)

Stella

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Stella wrote:

Pegasus, I could write something simple about it to go somewhere.... Here the answer is buried on page three following a lot of 'it is (partly) illegal' posts.... Don't know the best way to do it.

Would certainly be useful to get the official legal standing on this.. and further to this... I am almost sure that Caryl would love to print your article in the AW.

The post you made above seemed to explain the situation fine.. as often with "simple" explanations... they can be interpeted in so many ways, which often leads to statements like...

"Well.. I thought after reading this that.... "

If DOC has approved it... then members will have no doubts.

Many thanks for your efforts,

Bill.

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Whatever the legalities, I think that a good practice would be never to release anything into a natural waterway, particularly for "feel good" reasons.

Imagine the scenario: your fancy guppies have a new bug with which they just arrived from Singapore, you use the same net to handle them as you use to handle inanga, inanga gets the bug, you put inanga back into the waterway you took it from, now, the bug is in the waterway ...

Regarding the legalities of taking fish out of a waterway, I believe that the legalities involved in catching whitebait are well understood. Hence, taking them out of a waterway in whitebait season is not an issue at all, for as long as you follow the regulations regarding whitebait (and, basically, do what other people do). There is a degree of uncertainty as to whether one is allowed to keep them in a tank rather than frying them.

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people should take note that Stella is referring only to native freshwater fish.

There is a variety of legislation that governs freshwater fish in New Zealand, designed to protect our freshwater environments from alien pests.

The approval of Fish and Game New Zealand is required to hold live sportsfish and Gambusia, or introduce fish or fish eggs to sportsfish or game bird habitats.

Conservation Act 1987

To introduce any aquatic life (native or introduced fish, plants or invertebrates) into an area where they don’t already occur you need a permit from the Minister of Conservation, otherwise you could be liable for a fine of $5000. The taking and holding of some fish requires a special permit from the Minstry of Fisheries.

Unwanted Organisms (Biosecurity Act 1993)

It is illegal to release, spread, sell or breed unwanted organisms. There is a $100, 000 fine or five years imprisonment for people caught doing so.

Noxious Fish (Freshwater Fish Regulations 1983)

People who possess, control, rear, raise, hatch or consign noxious fish without authority are liable for a fine of $5000. Koi carp and rudd are classified as Noxious fish

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>What dates are whitebait season?

This is given on one of the Government's web sites. I do not have a url at hand, but if you google, you should find it. I had an impression that it is somewhat different from year to year.

>Unwanted Organisms (Biosecurity Act 1993)

Legal terminology is so confusing. So, it looks like "noxious" fish are not "unwanted" (so the fine for keeping them is smaller). Are "unwanted" the ones illegally imported?

So, it looks like there are the following categories:

unwanted - pyrania?

noxious - koi

not noxious, but not allowed for import - WCM

not noxious and allowed for import - guppy

game - trout (can't keep them without a permit)

native that are not game and not protected - inanga

native that are not game but are protected - mud fish? (can't keep them without a permit)

Are there any natives that are "game"?

I take it that strictly speaking, to designate something as "native that are not game and not protected" one needs to exclude other possibilities, for which the membership is given explicitly in relevant documents.

I take it one can catch almost anything in a whitebait net (no-one checks one by one who they are), and eat it with no legal repercussions. But if you grow it and it turns out to be protected, you might be in trouble (?).

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