"Eric Schreiber" wrote in message
...
Joseph wrote:

I live in a state where many fresh water plants are illegal, e.g.
Anacharis and milfoil. There are also several species of aquatic
animals that are illegal, e.g. ghost shrimp, fresh water snails, and
killifish (a HUGE fine if your caught with killies).

What state, Maine? I wouldn't have thought they'd consider these
things to be a danger, since most aquarium species are warm water.

I've been wrestling with the ethics of buying an illegal animal on
line (ghost shrimp), and wonder what other people think about this in
regards to both plants and animals.

Do you have a link to the formal state rules about this? Sometimes
these laws only prohibit commercial sales or are oddly written to
allow exceptions.

As for ethics vs the law, well, the two rarely intercept


--
www.ericschreiber.com

This is a very sticky question. You could observe the legal requirements
by purchasing similar looking (but legal) plants, shrimp and snails, and
then address the ethical concerns by handling them responsibly, ensuring
they never get out into your environment (regardless if they would or
wouldn't survive). However, legislation on Killies might be too broad to
find a similar but legal substitute, so you might have to go to a
different (legal) fish. How about exploring the legality of keeping home
grown darters and minnows?

I'm curious as to how this will evolve in the future. If your
environment could be adversely affected by something like Killies, could
White Cloud minnows be potentially banned as well? Will Guppies be next?
Canada, Russia and northern Europe may become the last bastions of legal
hobbyists in the future ;~)

NetMax, living up in Canada eh? ;~)