Ethical Fish Reproduction:
Impacts of Non-native or Invasive
species
Dr. Craig Kasper
Additional materials courtesy of Dr. Jeff Hill (TAL)
Lecture Summary
• Animal treatment
• Non-natives
• Government Organizations
Do fish have feelings?
• Some folks say “yes”, while others “no.”
• NGO’s want you to believe it.
• Scientific research is not clear!
Protect Yourself and Your
Organization
• Have a fish handling protocol in place and
review it annually.
• If you are hard-core, then you can get GLP
certification!
• Also known as guidelines for Good Laboratory
Practices. (Difficult)
• Don’t let random folks into your facility or take
place in daily operations.
Non-native Species
• What are they?
• What good are they?
• What bad are they?
• What can I do?
What does it mean?
Non-native refers to organisms which are
foreign or not native, which have been
introduced to an area.
Also known as:
Alien, Exotic, Nonindigenous
Exotic: different from the native
Oranges
Tomatoes
Dogs
Cotton
Dandelions
Benefits of non-natives
(Meet a need a native has not been found to fill)
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Food
Beauty
Pets
Sportfishing
Control of pests
Other uses
Non-natives in Florida agriculture
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Oranges and other citrus fruit
Tomatoes
Sugar cane
Cattle and dairy cows
Green peppers
Chickens
Tropical fish
History
• Native Americans traded among
themselves bringing some organisms to
Florida (corn, beans and squash from
Central America)
• When European settlers left for the New
World, they brought along the plants
and animals of their homeland. They
also brought disease.
What would your life be like
without non-natives?
No milk on your breakfast cereal, but
that’s OK, you probably couldn’t get
cereal anyhow. You can’t have orange
juice, either.
Imagine your life without…
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Pizza
Ice cream
Peanut butter
Sugar or honey to sweeten your food
Cotton clothing
Leather football, baseball or soccer balls
Cats or dogs (Okay, cats can go.)
Can non-natives be bad?
Yes…
Invasive organisms are species that are
non-native and cause, or are likely to
cause, economic or environmental harm
or harm human health.
These can be plants, animals and
other organisms such as microbes.
What’s so bad about invasives?
• Can alter habitat
• Can reduce native diversity
• Can exclude or cause disease in
natives or beneficial non-natives
• Can hybridize with natives
• Can be harmful to humans
Florida’s Non-native Species
Non-natives
Non-native invasives
1. West Nile Virus
2. Cows
3. Brazilian Pepper
4. Commercial
Citrus
5. Citrus Canker
6. Melaleuca
7. Vegetables
8. Hydrilla
9. Nursery plants
10.Water-hyacinth
US Non-native Fish Species
Too many to list!!!
http://nas.er.usgs.gov/queries/SpeciesList.asp?Group=Fishes
http://floridafisheries.com/Fishes/non-native.html
Unfortunately, most of these can and do survive quite well in FL.
Others:
sea lamprey
alewife
zebra and quagga mussels
spiny and fishook water fleas
round goby
See handouts!!
How do they do it?
What makes an invasive species successful?
1. Invasives are productive:
• grow quickly, produce lots of offspring (eggs, seeds,
spawn multiple times
2. Invasives are readily dispersed by:
• Wind, water, wildlife, humans
3. Invasives lack natural controls:
• Predators, insects, disease
4. Invasives are habitat generalists:
• can tolerate range of temperatures
• can live in variety of habitats
• have a broad diet
5. Invasives outcompete natives:
• shade native plants
• consume nutrients or food of natives
How did invasives get here?
Humans are the primary means of introduction
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hitchhikers (boating, ballast, cargo)
moving animals
aquariums
pets
Control and Management
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Physical Control
Chemical Control
Biological Control
Ecological Control
Commercialization
What Can I Do to Help?
• Don’t bring home unfamiliar plants or animals
• Never free pets into the wild
– Birds, fish, snails, iguanas, or monkeys
– Don’t dump aquariums into waterways
– Give unwanted pets away
• On the water
– Clean off your boat and aquatic equipment
– Throw back any fish you won’t eat when fishing
• Use native plants or well researched non-natives
whenever possible
Who Cares?
• Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS)
• Animal Lovers Against Animal Cruelty (ALAAC)
• People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
(PETA)
• Greenpeace
The Law
Unlawful release of exotic species in Florida
is punishable by a $1,000 fine and up to
one year in jail.
Don’t even tell ‘em about physical abuse
during your typical daily operations.
• Know the pathways of introduction and do
your part to stop accidental release into wild
• Be aware of laws related to non-native
species
• Join a community group that restores
habitat and removes invasives
• Look at up-to-date information on new
invasives and exotics
• Teach others about the benefits and risks of
non-native species