Here is an e-mail from a nice lady at the Department of Fisheries regards Tilapia in WA.
Now .. remember that this fish is a noxious fish in most other states and if keeping this one in the warmer regions, I would be most careful that it is not allowed to get into our waterways!
Here goes ..
I wish to advise that Tilapia is neither listed as a noxous or restricted species, and is available through the aquarium trade. It is legal to keep the fish as a pet or to undertake research or development trials at home or at the school. No permits are required and an Aquaculture Licence is also not required as you will not be undertaking commercial aquaculture.
The species is hardy and fast growing and spawns easily and is therefore the most suitable available fish in WA for the activities you propose to undertake at the school or home environment.
As they are an introduced species, it is important that the fish are not released into our natural waterways and dams. If you have unwanted fish, they should be returned to your place of purchase or disposed of humanely, such as by freezing them.
Further information on introduced species can be found on the Department of Fisheries website at www.fish.wa.gov.au and there may be merit in distributing this information to your students, so that they are aware of the importance of keeping the fish out of rivers and streams or dams.
I hope this information is useful. Please get back to me if you have any further queries.
Regards
Barbara Sheridan
Aquaculture Policy and Industry Relations Officer.
). You may end up with individuals that show these features anyway with some breeding effort. That's one of the reasons why I was thinking of the oscar. The selectively bred red oscar is a very handsome looking fish with bright orange-red sides. This also makes for good presentation despite it being a trait developed for the aquarium trade. The Australian fish buyer is a fickle beast and is easily influenced by such things as colour. A few years back I went to an aquaculture conference at CSIRO in Cronulla and they were looking at, among other things, the effect of certain foods on the skin colour of pond/cage raised snapper because the consumer preferred more intense pink in these fish than some of the more green/grey specimens that sometimes turn up. There is no difference in the flesh quality of these fish but to the consumer the more intense pink equates to a more attractive product that they also associate, erroneously, with freshness. So maybe tilapia meant for the aquarium trade might be just what the Dr ordered in so far as taking advantage of an as yet untapped niche market.
