Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

As far as I know they are illegal in most states except WA.

Tilapia (Oreochromis mossambicus, Tilapia mariae and Tilapia zilii) have been listed as Class 3 noxious fish in all NSW waters under the Fisheries Management Act 1994. It is now illegal to possess, buy or sell tilapia in NSW without a permit, and heavy penalties of up to $11,000 apply. In addition, NSW Fisheries has the power to seize and destroy the fish or require their destruction.

NSW Fisheries will seek compliance with the noxious species regulations for tilapia through inspections of aquarium shops and fish shipments, and through public education.

NSW Fisheries is also monitoring fish populations in coastal and inland rivers in NSW. If any populations of tilapia are discovered they will be monitored and, where possible, action taken to control or remove them.

yeah,
I read that too - but look at this link:

http://zenandjuice.com/word/2002/12/28/ ... ttikoferi/

This guy seems to think they are available legally in NSW for the home aquarium.

Unfortunatly not in victoria!

Which state are you in Aeon? you profle doesn't say

Silver perch CAN be bred with out hormone injections, i have a 1960's research paper that proves this, but it is by no means easy, actually quite hard, you actually need to simulate a flood over dry ground, as its some volatile chems in the summer dry earth that washed out into the water and is the stimuli for spawning!

Refer to the cold water fish thread, tandanus tandanus (eel tailed catfish) survives 4C through 38C and will breed naturally in gravel substrate. I'm keenly looking for people in melbourne to share an order in about december. (And it australian native )

Steve

Congrats on being all qualified aeon, good to see you back.....

With Tilapia you will still have to have breeding and rearing tanks, to have decent production so no matter whether you use Australian natives or tilapia, if your breeding your own, there is going to be more mucking around.

I'm fairly certain that I may have come close to having breeding silver perch last year, they were showing mating characteristics which is a good sign, and the Tandanus Tandanus sounds even easier.. I guess the problem is that not many people have bothered trying to breed the native fish in reasonably small quantities in ther backyards because there is no point. You can't sell the offspring without a license, you can't grow LARGE numbers in your backyard, what are you going to do with them all...

I should probably try some more serious experiments to see if I can get silver perch to breed, it's not too hard to reproduce the required conditions..

Just when I was suggesting that very few things attract bigger fines in Queensland than keeping rabbits, I found this information on a DPI web site

"Tilapia (Tilapia, Oreochromis and Sarotherodon spp) are declared noxious in Queensland. Two species (Oreochromis mossambicus and Tilapia mariae ) have established in Queensland. It is illegal to possess, rear, sell or buy tilapia. It is also an offence to release tilapia into Queensland waterways or to use them as bait, live or dead. Penalties up to $150 000 apply."

As for releasing them into Queensland waterways, I think that horse has already bolted.

My question is this.......... i'm fairly sure melbourne is colder than perth, so why are they allowed in WA?

My logic may be flawed in that i expect the laws to be logical

yep, that is true... The farmers up on the table lands had to "poison" the water in their irrigation systems because they were infested with these yummy buggers

They are allowed here, but they are strictly controlled for indoor aquarium use only.. Every fish an aquarium shop sells has to be accounted for and the purchaser has to sign a receipt for them....

they have not been steralised or anything have they?

A scientist here breeds sterile silver carp. It's possible to do the same to Tilapia but....

Our waters would not support their species breeding conditions - a safety.

I really don't understand why anyone would want to keep such a fish when we have so many world class natives to choose from for our Aquaponics... I don't often totally agree with Gov ideas, but in this case a 150,000 dollar fine for releasing them into the wild is still a bit on the light side.

Hi all its Aeon here,
I cant seem to get the info from my profile to come up next to my posts but I'm in Sydney NSW, Steve.( have emailed administrators and waiting for reply).

I totally dig & share your passion for natives, Murray - my interest in Tilapia is driven by desperation to produce a fish for the home table that I dont have to buy new stock for every season.

I recently saw an horrific doco called "End of Suburbia" which features primarily Mat Simmons, (among others) Head of Americas largest and most powerful oil investment consortium - he's the bloke companies pay bazillions of dollars to to tell them how to invest in oil etc.

If his predictions are right - none of us will be buying any fingerlings or eating any fish except for the ones we fish ourselves out of rivers and the sea or are able to succesfully breed at home. He sees the suburbs as the slums of the very near future as he predicts no oil, gas or other energy alternatives will be around to drive our cars, trucks, planes, homes, businesses etc. He went through every single energy alternative like hydrogen etc and expained very logically why it was all a joke and why the media are pressured by advertising sponors (I'm sure its the same here) to keep us in the dark about peak oil. All the big shots are trying to make as much money as they can right now - their last hurrah before everything goes mad max style.

It was very bleak and disturbing. I'm happy to be a cynical genXer in my own little world reading James Lovelock etc but when the US guys in suits start to agree with me - thats worrying- Hence my desire to get some fish production up and running NOW so i know how to feed my family and little baby due in Nov if it all goes down the ablutions hole. I think those of us who love aquaculture and gardening as hobbies already are so fortunate - and we will be the ones our communities depend upon for information and advice as to how to do the same. Just watch the interest and hits on this forum go through the roof in the next year or so.

On a cheerier note- its very exciting to hear from those of you who are experiementing with breeding natives which ofcourse is the perfect solution to this whole issue. Congrats to your pioneering selves!
Aeon.
Now how do I get more info in the profle box next to the posts?

Aeon, try going into "profile" (top right hand side of the screen) and updating your info, then click on the "Submit" botton.

Warren

Aeon, did not see the programme you speak of, but it is very likely to come true.....It would appear that Jade Perch are reasonably easy to breed, so I guess in the near future some Forum members will give it a go , same with Silver Perch. So here's to the future of "Backyard Aquaponics" !!!

Aeon, I did not see the article either, but I also believe it is important for people to learn how to raise their own food. The news is full of impending wars and the like. Just while I have been on this site tonight, my husband had the news on which mostly focused on Israel and their wars. I have just started my system, but it has been in my mind for over 12 years. Living in the states they have not made Tilapia illegal, just give them time. This is the fish I have chosen since they are great breeders and can live in poor water conditions. Since we have hurricanes and power failures during storms, even though I am planning on purchasing a generator these type of fish seem to live when the conditions are poor.

Murray, you can see the future of Backyard Aquaponics just by looking at the registered users list and how fast it is growing.