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collecting wild uk fish

I mean get a fishing license and go for it... not sure how y'all do it over there but here in the States we're issued fish/game licenses respectively. Obviously you can't take anything endangered or "threatened" but native fish keeping is definitely growing here. It's totally legal. From an ethical standpoint it's never recommended to ever return a native fish to the wild after being kept in the home aquarium as the possibility of introducing new contagions to the native populations. Releasing any fish in the wild is almost always illegal here

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As far as I'm aware it's the same as for sea animals in that you are fine as long as it isn't endangered and it's for your own use. I'm not sure what a baliff would say if you were caught catching them without a licence but a quick email to the environment agency might help.
 
In my country fish need to be of a certain size (age) before they are alowed to be taken.. This obviously has to do with sexual maturity and preservation.
When it comes to a fish tank in almost all cases the fish will be to big. For example the Minnows which are not on the red list must be at least 30 cm. Anything smaller should be released back. :)

Now only catching a 30 cm minnow by itslef is already a challange if not a rarety in many occasions.

You can find the minimal sizes online.. Educated guess UK has simmular Flora-Fauna laws..

Next best option is buy them if possible..

I always wanted a big tank with a few baby pikes.. But it unfortunately would be against the law to house a few smaller than 45cm. And they are nowhere for sale.

So if you do things like this be carefull with showing off pics online.. :thumbup: You'll likely get ratted out and fined. :twisted:
 
Since you can buy minnows I wouldn't be overly worried about being ratted out. I also find it hard to believe that you wouldn't be allowed to take them home for personal use because you could catch and eat them if you wanted with a licence. I know people who would just use them for bait. Saying that, the unique way in which this world works, common sense probably doesn't apply and its a hanging offence.

The issue with them however is they prefer cool, highly oxygenated water and keeping it in the right temp range might be the issue. There are other similar species which might work better like rainbow shiners (stunning little fish).
 
There are diseases that only exist in aquaria as long as fish taken from nature never return and vice versa. Both ecosystems have enough strain on them as it is without further meddling. If a native fish is taken it should be with the understanding that it's being taken forever

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So far all I've got is the pump. It's gonna have to be outside due to the size and whitewater conditions I intend on replicating. I've seen some amazing German systems I wanna copy
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It highly depends on country and region, you realy should know these laws and what is allowed and what not.. Some fish are commercialy cultivated and for sale as pond fish.. Without knowing these regulation, than you might as well be doing something illegal. Those fines for poaching or keeping illegal animals can be rather spicy. I somebody with a Grass Snake in his terrarium, i know these are protected and illegal to keep in captivity. I do not know if he brags about his snake on forums, it wouldn't be very smart thing to do.. :)

While in Germany i'm not sure if this law is still in use, lately heard it was changed, But till that time it was obliged to kill all fish you catch. it was illegal to release a wounded fish back to nature. I remember the times that Germans never were very welcome at Dutch fisherman clubs and ponds. They were so used to that custom, they killed all they catched everywhere they came and take it home, eat it or feed to dogs, cats and or pigs with it. :)

In Germany there even is a law against keeping to large fish in Nano tanks.. I remember an interview with professional aquascaper Jurijs Mit S. He was asked the question "what are the best fish for nano tanks. He pointed to that law and in respect of it as professional was reluctant to publicaly answer the question. And he didn't.
 
I suppose in the UK many habitats streams,ponds have disappeared due to development, I know of locations culverted were loaches and bullheads once thrived in crystal clear water,so maybe leave alone.Probably a huge challenge to attempt to keep them in domestic aquariums anyway
 
There a byelaws to adhere to; where I am, I can take fish (with limitations) and as someone whom eats fish, I do - trout mainly. If we all took fish for the table though.. there wouldn't be any fish left I don't think.

The only fish really suited to a aquarium in the uk imo are 3 spined stickle back, (Gasterosteus aculeatus), and they need space. a group really should be in a 6ft plus tank, and even then, i would recommend only one male. Smaller tanks are okay just to observer breeding behaviour but never to house long term. A lot die in those tanks in science departments in schools.

Bulheads, or miller thumbs need highly oxygenated water, and if you ever do catch one it will be from very turbulent/fast flowly rocky water. I thought they were protected, but they are not. They don't grow massive, and they might do well in an aquairum, but it's the kind of fish that is best left in the river (I guess we could say that about all fish).

Minnows (Phoxinus phoxinus) do survive, but highly susceptible to stress - needs a very mature tank, high numbers (so again, a big aquarium) and always treat them for parasites.

If you can get a young one, a Perch will do very well for a long time, but they get big and as one of my favourite course fish, I'd rather you left it in the river. That said, a Ruffe (Gymnocephalus cernua) would do fine I think. I have caught them in all sorts of water, and they're an invasive species in US.

If you're wanting a loach, only the Stone Loach isn't a protected species; you can get these from some lfs.

You do not need a fishing licence to fish with a small net (you know butterfly nets kids use), but there are obvious things, i.e don't start using throwing nets. You will be fined, heavily.
 
Thanks Castle, I've emailed the EA to provide clarification. It's just a thought at the moment, not a plan.

As you say, i think there some irony in many of us merrily stocking wild caught fish from half way around the world then getting fussy about doing it in your own back yard. I'm not saying either is right, but it should makes us stop and think.
 
Yeah, this is a difficult thing, but I feel the same way with most fish we see in pet shops that I think should have been left in their home waters (rays,knifes,bass,plecs,catfish,puffers and plenty more). The key thing here is size, if you had a 5000 litre tank, then by all means go get a perch, but don't if you can't cater for it. Perch are shoalers when young, but when they're old they become loners and dislike their own kind. Just using this as an example.

As UK waters just don't have any fish that really can thrive in home aquariums I would prefer them left in the river! I suspect as stated some would do fine, but overall the diversity isn't there.

i kept loads of fish as a kid from our rivers with varying success - Roach and Gudgeon lasted months. In the pond they lasted years.
 
Where i live it is pretty simple.. To go fishing in ponds, lakes and or rivers ect. you need a permit. On the permit is specified wich equipment is permited. It says 1 rod, a landing net and a life net, which bait not to use and which hooks (trident) not to use..With the permit comes a small booklet, in this the fish are specified, minimal sizes etc. If you catch a fish bellow this size you are obliged to release it immediately it's not allowed to hold them in the life net. And as said, the minimum size for a Rud is 30cm, Tench is 25cm. If the patrolman checks your permit, he'll obviously checks your life net. Anything out of the order as obviously using equipment not listed on the permit is illegal (example 2 rods, undersized fish in the net) considerd poaching. Paoching is considered a very serious felony, as far as i know in about every country in this world, hence a century ago you could get shot or hanged for it.

Fishing with more then 1 rods needs a special permit and often another permit from the land owner or club. In many cases of which there are extra rules on top of the regular ones to keep in respect.

Next to that, if you would do it all within the given regulations and catch your own fish. Before you are home with it, they are damaged and extremely stressed from hooking, dragging out of the water, holding in a life net for x hours and than dragging them home. I guess you would be extremely lukcy if only a few survive this ordeal for longer than a week.

Than it would be much more convinient for the fish and yourself to visit a pond shop and buy comercialy captive bred fish sp. Trout, Tench, Rud, Perch, Minnows etc. except a few they about all are, if not directly available for sale always available by special order.. And than you are not obliged to respect minimum sizes. :)
 
@dean i dont think catching them is the issue, it's whether you can then remove them from the catch site, keep them, then reintroduce them at a later date. As you can see from posts above it seems in some countries that would be banned. Here in uk its not clear. The river lowther is quite near my house and is fed from the same reservoir as my tap water, so water parameter would presumably be similar, assuming the water company doesn't do that much before it comes out my tap.
 
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