# Releasing fish in the wild



## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

How many times have we heard, once the fish gets to big I will release it to the rivers, lakes or ponds? I have heard it so many times in my many years and have explained so many times that releasing into the wild can and will be detrimental to the enviroment.

Not only can they bring harmful diseases to the water ways, they can also decimate local flora and fauna. You might think that oh this one time won't hurt, but then another comes along and says the same thing, and another and another.

Here is a pic of those kind of instances taken from a Texas Lake. These are those cute little common plecos that so many stores sell and shouldn't.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Thats one way to get them out. Here, we have Snakeheads. TVA Lake systems have the Carp issues. I have also seen Koi in the Potomac as recent as yesterday.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

This is sad.I have neighbors who throw fish in the creeks.Even other people ive spoken with swear that a certain type of fish wouldnt survive the winter so they have a good summer and then die free.They dont understand theres exceptions to those rules sometimes.

Poor plecs.


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

We have trouble in Canada with southern turtles. People release them in summer, saying they'll die before next Spring. Most do, but while they are living they outcompete native turtles, which starve. When winter comes, everyone dies.

Wild release is a major cause of extinction. Releasing a pair of potential breeders into a stream is worse than backing up an oil tanker truck and releasing its load into the water.


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## Auban (Aug 8, 2010)

even native fish, when introduced to a stream they arent from, can decimate the native populations.


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## ScurvyGoat (Dec 1, 2011)

-sigh- And why are all of the world's amphibians in danger of extinction? Because people buy those adorable little clawed frogs and once they get the size of your fist let them go, releasing the extremely infectious and fatal fungus Chytrid in our waterways. -headwall- I seriously hate humanity most of the time... I can imagine how many more plecos are left after that pic... There's a pond next to my house that has goldfish in it all the time. 

One of my first ferrets was released into the "wild" and was found hours from death. You couldn't tell from his looks now though!

I foolishly bought a CAE a loooong time ago that outgrew it's tank. What did I do? He went to my cousin's big tank. 

Releasing anything the wild is NOTHING short of animal cruelty. >=|


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## susankat (Nov 15, 2008)

Even releasing native fish back into their own waterways can be harmful, once being put into the home aquarium they can carry back so many different diseases and wipe out entire populations.


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## Marci99205 (Dec 13, 2011)

Just another reason I am going into aquaculture... smh


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## navigator black (Jan 3, 2012)

I take the view that any fish in captivity is really dead. It has been captured by a predator that keeps it alive, and often treats it well. But as far as the millions of years that got it here, and its place in the delicate web of life in its habitat, it is as good as dead. Just as much as its brothers and sisters that fall prey to other fish, birds, turtles, etc, it is out of there, and a fish out of "there" is a sort of zombie fish.

There are a few technically extinct fishes (I have several here) that only live on in aquariums, and they might someday be returned to their own habitat. This would have to be after ecological studies by reputable scientific bodies. Outside of an organized project like that, there is nothing more irresponsible a hobbyist can do than release a fish into the wild.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

this should be a sticky....never knew people would release fish! how could someone be so stupid?


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## FishFlow (Sep 13, 2011)

Seems pretty logical to me. People don't want to kill fish, that is inhumane. So they release it into the wild believing that's the humane thing to do, ignorant of the consequences.


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## zero (Mar 27, 2012)

im sorry but one fishes life is better that all those fishes lives in the picture susan posted plus the devastation to the natural lake river stream etc there released into. sacrifice one to save many and all that. you may think thats harsh but if people researched there fish properly then no one would have to suffer.


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## Summer (Oct 3, 2011)

so terrible.


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