N. California Mud Bottom Pond Biotope. (56k)

zoo minsi said:

really neat set-up, i like the wood alot. What type of plant is that on the far right? and an empty beer can would be funny as hell, have to post a pic if you add it in. cant wait to see it once you get the fish.

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Thank you. The wood adjusted a tad when I filled up but I think it works as is. I did this easy and just collected everything from the same local pond/stream. Made it fairly easy to throw together and have it look natural.

The plant on the far right is pennywort. It generally likes to have it's leaves float on the top of the water so it should stretch and provide quite a bit of shade over that end of the tank. I'm slightly hoping it grows in real thick so I can support a small breeding population of mosquito fish that the sunfish wont be able to easily snack on.



Looks like the tank has just completed it's cycling. Ammonia spiked a few times which prompted quick water changes but seems to have leveled off now. I also found a site to collect some very young sunfish so it looks like we're just waiting on permits.

So I have hit a dilemma. I've been conversing with the DFG and it seems as though it's very unlikely that I'll be granted a research permit. I can however pay $750 for an aquaculture permit and then an additional fee for a live collection permit which is absolutely nuts for collecting less than half a dozen fish... So I asked a past professor of mine that worked as a State Park peace officer and is now a lawyer and she pointed me to the California Constitution which states:

CALIFORNIA CONSTITUTION
ARTICLE 1 DECLARATION OF RIGHTS

Section 25. The people shall have the right to fish upon and from
the public lands of the State and in the waters thereof, excepting
upon lands set aside for fish hatcheries, and no land owned by the
State shall ever be sold or transferred without reserving in the
people the absolute right to fish thereupon; and no law shall ever be
passed making it a crime for the people to enter upon the public
lands within this State for the purpose of fishing in any water
containing fish that have been planted therein by the State;
provided, that the legislature may by statute, provide for the season
when and the conditions under which the different species of fish
may be taken.

So... technically speaking you don't need a fishing license to fish, nor can the state charge/fine for permits/lack-thereof. This is coming from someone that worked as a game warden and is now a lawyer but as legal as it may be I'm slightly sheepish about challenging the establishment.

Either way I find it pretty crazy that no one in the state of CA needs a fishing license.

zoo minsi said:

i could be wrong but couldn't a fishing license be considered a condition? also dont know about California but here you can buy a single day fishing license and be within the law and save a few bucks.

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I would assume the conditions to be referring to federal and state protected species. I have a fishing license but according to the CDFG you still cannot transport live fish. I can catch and kill as many sunfish and mosquito fish as I want but transporting them 5 blocks to my house is illegal. I could get a live bait permit which would allow me to catch and transport but not house, a research permit which I don't really qualify for, or an aquiculture permit which would require state certification and inspections... CA has pretty much made it illegal to keep wild caught fish. Even if you are a teacher and want to have an indoor educational tank you still need a research permit with 3 members of the schools executive staff to write off on it along with a research proposal...

So it's either break the law (which apparently according to my professor wouldn't be breaking the law - still sounds fishy to me), or order fish from out of state which is legal. Makes sense right? Legal to import exotic and domestic species, legal to kill as many of these particular species as I want each day, but illegal to catch and keep them alive.