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Lately planned federal legislation is taking endeavors at decreasing the import and expressway trade of non-native livestock, including fish and aquatic organisms or collected for the aquarium trade. This is not the first attempt made to put restriction on the exploitation of these wildlife structures that are facing extinction due to trade. While the proposed law has some benefits, it still has flaws.
New law would sternly control the import and trade in “non-native wildlife taxa”. As dreaded by some in the pet industry, new federal legislation that could stop the importation of many species of livestock and pets, including fish and aquatic organisms bred or collected for the aquarium trade has been initiated in Washington.
H.R. 996 the new laws for Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act was introduced in the US House of Representatives by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY) on March 6, 2013. H.R. 996 is actually a re-write of H.R. 669 dating back to 2008.
H.R. 996 has 28 co-sponsors and has been referred to four special committees including House Natural Resources- Fisheries, Wildlife, Oceans and Insular Affairs, House Budget, House Judiciary, House Ways and Means committees.
H.R. 996 is a measure to set up an “accepted” (white) list of general cultivated pets and livestock (dogs, cats, goldfish, farm animals), and an “unaccepted” (black) list. By default the black list would cover everything not included on the “accepted” list, including thousands of species of fish, aquatic invertebrates, reptiles and amphibians found in the pet trade. Hence the species not included in accepted white list will be illegal to sell or own.
This is a “guilty until proven innocent” loom that would add all “unaccepted” species to the Injurious Wildlife list of the Lacey Act in one massive blanket listing. Hundreds of species could be prohibited as criminal acts to import or ship in interstate commerce and be subject to sanctions under the Lacey Act.
In addition to the 50 states of the US Union and the District of Columbia, the law would also cover: Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the US Virgin Islands.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), along with Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) reportedly will pioneer a companion bill into the US Senate later in this session. According to the US Herpetological Alliance, “Most reptiles and amphibians would fall to the “unaccepted” list and be subject to sanctions,” and the Alliance is preparing to oppose this legislation.
While persistent species such as the lionfish in the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean; Hypostomus plecostomus infecting rivers and lakes in Texas; and the Burmese python concern in Florida give more power to a bill like this passing, there is a better way to help manage the issue at hand other than legislation like this.