Ethical Fish Reproduction

1. Ethical Fish Reproduction Dr. Craig Kasper Additional materials courtesy of Dr. Jeff Hill (TAL)

2. Lecture Summary • Animal treatment • Non-natives • Government Organizations

3. Do fish have feelings? • Some folks say “yes”, while others “no.” • NGO’s want you to believe it. • Scientific research is not clear!

4. Protect Yourself and Your Organization • Have a fish handling protocol in place and review it annually. • Also known as guidelines for Good Laboratory Practices (GLP guidelines). • Don’t let random folks into your facility or take place in daily operations.

5. 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.

6. Non-native Species • What are they? • What good are they? • What bad are they? • What can I do?

7. 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

8. Exotic: different from the native Oranges Tomatoes Dogs Cotton Dandelions

9. Benefits of non-natives • Food • Beauty • Pets • Sportfishing • Control of pests • Other uses (Meet a need a native has not been found to fill)

10. Non-natives in Florida agriculture • Oranges and other citrus fruit • Tomatoes • Sugar cane • Cattle and dairy cows • Green peppers • Chickens • Tropical fish

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Imagine your life without… • 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.)

14. Can non-natives be bad?

15. 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.

16. 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

17. Florida’s Non-native Species Non-natives Non-native invasives • West Nile Virus • Cows • Brazilian Pepper • Commercial Citrus • Citrus Canker • Melaleuca • Vegetables • Hydrilla • Nursery plants • Water-hyacinth

18. 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!!

19. How do they do it? What makes an invasive species successful?

20. 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

21. How did invasives get here? Humans are the primary means of introduction • hitchhikers (boating, ballast, cargo) • moving animals • aquariums • pets

22. Control and Management • Physical Control • Chemical Control • Biological Control • Ecological Control • Commercialization

23. 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

24. Who Cares? • Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) • Animal Lovers Against Animal Cruelty (ALAAC) • People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) • Greenpeace

25. 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.

26. 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