iilegal trade in LA

SALE OF CERTAIN FRESHWATER FISH PROHIBITED
No person shall purchase, sell, exchange or offer for sale or exchange, or possess or import with intent to sell or exchange any freshwater game fish, or any fish taken recreationally or taken with any recreational gear, including but not limited to largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides), spotted bass (Micropterus punctulatus), shadow bass (Ambloplites ariommus), black or white crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus, P. annularis), white bass (Morone chrysops), yellow bass (Morone mississippiensis), striped bass (Morone

saxatilis), hybrid striped bass (striped bass-white bass cross or striped bass-yellow bass cross), any species of bream (Lepomis spp.), or any other species of freshwater game fish or saltwater game fish


so please no ask myself or dredcon for any of these fishes... i for one will not do any of this... its a 1000 dollars a fish and lose of fishing licenses of all type.. plus me being in the military id get double screwed...

This is already posted on the website listed here in the State Regs section. But I will leave this here as a reminder...

does that apply to red eye bass as well?

does that apply to red eye bass as well?

The Redeye Bass is considered a gamefish so yes, it applies to that. Basically the same regs as SC. Unless you have very specialized permits, NO gamefish can be caught by any method other than hook&line, and even if you have the required permits there are many regs to follow regarding the collection methods and locations. It took Dustin and me over a year to research this and get all the needed paperwork organized and completed. We spent many hours at the DNR main office meeting with the people in charge of issuing the licenses & permits to make sure we were legal.

gulp
swishing of buckets in background

This says you can't sell or barter them. It does not say that you can't give them away. I don't know how this hair would be split, but I don't think collectors trading is the same thing as selling or bartering. Regardless, the way I read this, you CAN give these fish away.

This says you can't sell or barter them. It does not say that you can't give them away. I don't know how this hair would be split, but I don't think collectors trading is the same thing as selling or bartering. Regardless, the way I read this, you CAN give these fish away.

yeah i asked a warden and yes you can give fish and recieve fish as gifts back
nothin wrong with that

yeah i asked a warden and yes you can give fish and recieve fish as gifts back
nothin wrong with that

That's cool, and that's how I interpreted it. So what's with this, if you can give them away or trade them:

so please no ask myself or dredcon for any of these fishes... i for one will not do any of this... its a 1000 dollars a fish and lose of fishing licenses of all type.. plus me being in the military id get double screwed...

This says you can't sell or barter them. It does not say that you can't give them away. I don't know how this hair would be split, but I don't think collectors trading is the same thing as selling or bartering. Regardless, the way I read this, you CAN give these fish away.

I think a key point here is also the regulations regarding how gamefish are taken. Here in SC, they can only be taken by hook&line unless certain, very specific requirements are met. Most gamefish of a small enough size to be shipped are too small to be caught on a hook. I'll bet the regs are pretty similar elsewhere including LA.

It's generally not a good idea to put conditions of returning fish on any exchange. This could be seen as bartering. Giving fish to people in hopes they'll return a fish is the bast way to go.

It's generally not a good idea to put conditions of returning fish on any exchange. This could be seen as bartering. Giving fish to people in hopes they'll return a fish is the bast way to go.

That's why I said I don't know how that hair would be split. But fisgokie says he talked to the enforcement officer, who says trades are okay. So as far as I'm concerned, that settles the matter.

I would agree with you that I would prefer to just give them away. It would be nice if we were all willing to just give away extra fish, and keep an eye out for certain fish for others upon request. I am certainly willing to do so.

But the reason I don't understand the initial post is this. Selling on the forum is prohibited, except for the licensed vendors in the "Commercial Vendors" section of the forum. So the fact that selling the fish is illegal in LA is irrelevant in a sense. If a LA resident gets a license and gets listed in the "Commercial Vendors" section, he can sell, both forum policy-wise and LA law-wise. (Nobody has done that to date.) Regardless, there is no law that is stricter than forum policy. It is lawful to give and trade fish. So I just don't see the purpose of the warning.

And by the way, I have seen some pretty tiny fish taken on hook and line, even YOY fish. So I would not say game fish small enough to ship cannot be taken legally (subject to size and creel limits). And of course they can be bred. So giving and trading small game fish does not inherently imply an illegal act.