The Wet Tropics is home to the greatest diversity of fish in Australia. But it’s not natives that are in demand for local fish tanks, so our aquarium shops stock less than five per cent native species.

While the exotic fish looks impressive in-home tanks, they can cause havoc in local waterways if that’s where they end up – and electro-fishing surveys have shown this does happen. They compete with native fish for food and habitat, eat native fish and spread disease, and the problem is compounded by other fish species which are native to Australia but have been moved into water catchments they didn’t originally belong in.

James Donaldson, Executive Officer of Wet Tropics Waterways, says a number of pest fish species have become established in the Wet Tropics region.

“These include tilapia, platys, guppies and swordtails. We still have a good diversity of native species in our rivers and our catchments are generally in a good condition. But well-known species like tilapia and carp demonstrate just how destructive introduced fish can be. Once established, it’s almost impossible to eradicate pest fish so the best strategy is to prevent them from being introduced in the first place.”

James says the situation is more serious in areas like the Wet Tropics because the most popular aquarium fish often come from tropical countries and have the potential to thrive here too.

“We know from research that one of the main reasons people release unwanted fish into our waterways is because they bought a species on impulse, without finding out enough about it,’’ he says. “For example, they didn’t realize how big the fish would grow, how long it would live or how it would behave with other fish in their tank.

“So we’ve developed a campaign to raise awareness and help address some of these knowledge gaps.”

Wet Tropics Waterways is running a pilot project with True Blue Aquariums in Cairns, supplying informative labelling and signage to improve customer awareness about the fish they’re buying, how to look after them and how to dispose of them responsibly if they no longer want them.

Amy Tiu, owner of True Blue Aquariums, says she is excited to be involved in the pilot.

“We’ve already noticed our customers reading the labels so they’re adding value and its good for our business,” she says.

James says he’s hoping to roll the program out to other aquarium shops across the region.

How to say goodbye to your pet fish responsibly:

1. Rehome: Give them to another fish lover.
2. Return: Take them back to the store.
3. Euthanise: Say goodbye to them humanely.

For more information go to: https://wettropicswaterways.org.au/how-to-dispose-of-unwanted-fish/