Us poor Aussies live in a world of red tape and legislating against everything, im sure they would legislate aginst stupidity if it was possible but then a few of the people i know that are employed bey government departments would be unemployed ,so they wont do that
We have a list of allowable species , if the fish aint on it then too bad, theres so much biosecurity red tape ,fish must meet certain criteria and if released by means accidentally or on purpose either can not survive or cwn not create a feral population that will decimate native fish populations.
We have had some stupid animals introduced like cane toads to eat sugar cane beetles, which didnt work cos beetles can fly, european carp and talapia which have no real predators here and their numbers have exploded to the point where they are in plague proportions
Then we have,rabbits and wild pigs which probably cost the economy a billion dollars a year in either damage or in crop losses
The list has been amended a few times with some fish added and some removed,
A lot that we have here not on the list were here before the list was enacted i dare say theres been some bought in by less than legal routes ,
others like asian arowana (schleropagus formosus sp.)have been on the cites list since mid 1970s and should not be here legally, yet they are advertised as with paperwork and microchipped ,and if youre caught with one it will be confiscated,destroyed and you will get a day off work to stand in front of a judge and have some money removed from your person, or face jail time
yet african arowana(osteoglossum sp.)are not illegal to own yet not on the list, its a bit of a grey area if the fish are already here they basically get a grandfather clause ,meaning they can stay ,be kept legally just none can be imported, this does NOT apply to any fish here declared noxious by either the federal government or the individual states, if youre caught with them the government will do their best to relieve you of your spare cash and your fish
When i get home tonight i will attatch a link with the allowable imports attatched
I can only find records of the list being from 2001 but im sure it was first implimented early 1990s, so anything here before that gets a free pass