Just wanted to post a little story I thought some of you may find interesting. It's worth mentioning that I live in the northeastern U.S.

Today I went to my LFS to look for a Blue Acara as a companion to my growing Oscar "Darth Vadar"(my son named him heh). Anyhoo, the fish guy at the store and I got into a discussion about the fish and others ect. It came up that Jack Dempsey's are illegal in my state! It turns out there was a problem a few years ago about them infesting a local waterway because someone released some locally and it disrupted the ecosystem. My state is rural and very outdoor environmentally oriented I suppose.

...just thought it was interesting.


... it turns out they didn't have any Blue Acara but I did end up getting one at a different place.

Are they illegal to have or illegal to sell?

Like here piranha are illegal to sell... But you can have them... Does that make sense?

Where do you live???

Maine

As far as I know the law is against selling them. One could probably get away with owning one if got through "other" means but I don't plan to do so. I just thought it was interesting.


In the same respect the only turtles you can buy as a pet here is the Red Eared Slider.

Whoever told you jack dempseys are illegal in maine is full of BS.

artemis1 wrote:

complete bull. JDs are tropical fish, and wouldn't be able to survive even a mild winter let alone freezing water in the north. i don't see how there could possibly have been a JD infestation in your part of the country!!

i hear in florida they have a chichlid and bermiese python issue but not in main now i know in colorado at washington park which is in the capital area had a kaymen in it a while back during the summer and was cought i think after like a few weeks but in main how

Well I did some research and got to the bottom of this...

It turns out that the jack dempsey falls under what Maine law considers "restricted." This means that it is illegal for pet stores to sell them and for anyone to order/import them without a permit. So if I wanted to legally get one I would first have to request a permit.

So the part about it causing an infestation may be false, but it turns out they are somewhat illegal. This state is very sensitive to the topic of "invasive species" so someone probably made some complaint and they restrivcted it... I dunno

fair enough.... i guess. that makes a little more sense

mrziggz wrote:


link?

Sure
Here is the 2004 update when the change in law actually took place:

www.maine.gov/search?q=cache:30aWiYCHJSI....maine.gov/ifw/wildl

Here is the most recent revision:

www.maine.gov/search?q=cache:30aWiYCHJSI....maine.gov/ifw/wildl

Maine has a service where you can query the law library. That is how I ended up finding it. ...don't know why I didn't think to post this with the last reply, sorry.

that's interesting. i love how they spell it

Jack Dempsy Cichlid (Cichlisoma octopasciatum)



anyways, i think the law is just restricting importing for pet shop, or anyone else buying them out of state? i don't think you would need an import just to keep them. i could be wrong, though.