why is this allowed?

Why are fish, inverts and plants that are on the black list sold in pet shops?

Henk says hornwort is illegal, the shop I saw it in last time must have had about 5x 3ft tanks full of it.

Does anyone police this or is it a nobody cares to inforce the law scenerio.

If the shop sold the plants, it had to have bought them somewhere, so the fault has to be placed on suppliers as well.

This reminds me of when I still worked for MTN (before the November 2009 lawoffs) when ICASA representatives rocked up in our store and demanded to see the phones, they were going to confiscate all phones that did not bear the ICASA logo. Surely there are less suppliers than there are pet shops and it should be easier to regulate them, than what it would be to go to every pet shop?

Another question, what will the police, fire fighters, ambulace workers and the department of nature conservation do if they find a black listed plant or animal in your aquarium?

 

Because there is a market

 

and most people are not aware of the blacklist and that includes the LFS's

 

its actually quite complicated... those who are mandated to monitor and enforce these sorts of things are provincial bodies while municipalties have very little teeth to use when it comes to environmental related issues.

Trying to get province to act is sometimes VERY difficult and frustrating. We are in the process of communicating with the Minister to try and improve EMI's (environmental management inspectorates) within our municipality to allow for greater monitoring and enforcement without havin to liase with provinicial departments.

Here's a website if you're interested:
http://emi.deat.gov.za/login/index.aspp?ReturnUrl=/index.aspp

 

What I have also noticed, is that some of the people (not only on this forum) that are most vocal about what is legal and what is not, do have items which are on the blacklist. That is sort of like being a hypocrite, don't you think?

 

10i - DEAT has a law enforcement section thats busy acting against importers, wholesalers and LFS's that sell illegal animals.

 

And their Spy is................................

009.lol

 

they actually do random inspections at the importers/wholesalers and then also at shops.

they also have the Green Scorpions or whatever its called now that acts on industrial waste

 

Henk - Green Scorpions are a term that journalists use for Environmental Management Inspectors. they are the same thing

 

there we go

 

Guys, guys, guys,

Are you surprised about the state of affairs? In South Africa we undoubtedly have the best constitution in the world, international experts agree on this. When it comes to execution this is when it all falls apart.

So we have every illegal species of aquatic plants and fish written into the regulations but we do not have almost a single person that is able to identify the plants. Officials actually ask me about the identity of fishes and plants!

Bottom line is therefore that there will be illegals in the shops for as long as the system does not push out suitably qualified botanists who will be able to do the ids, so what are the chances. So, no need to get your b..ls in a knot, this will still happen for the next how many years. If you see gross irregularities, get hold of the green scorpions, but do not expect to see everything sorted out, it just will not happen.

And just in case you think that things are better in Aussie, which is the common comparison, I want to show you a pic of Echinodorus cordifolius (blacklisted in SA and Australia) growing in a dam on a golf course in the area inland of Brisbane. So, the "grass" is not always greener on the other side....

Kind regards,

Dirk

 

And let's face it... If you were a qualified botanist, would YOU want to work for the government enforcing their laws???

 

I would not want to work for the government wether i am qualified or not.

:idea::idea::idea:
Or maybe i should then i can drive around in a Pitch Black Audi A5 Sportback..............