Tip of the Day – 5/2/2014

If you are located near a bay, sea, or some other marine environment, collecting local aquatic livestock may be a great way to stock your aquarium. But it isn’t without some potential legal drawbacks. For one, in most states you have to possess a fishing license or some other valid permit to collect, even if it’s just for your aquarium. Once past that, you have to also be careful how you handle the livestock one you’ve acquired it. Because most fishing licenses are for recreational use, you cannot sell or trade any of the animals you collect. This part is a little hard to enforce, and people are constantly trading locally caught peppermint shrimp for other animals, like cheap corals. But, there are potential legal ramifications for doing so. We aren’t here to discourage local collection, we just want to make sure that it is done in a legal and responsible way.