How can they be Illegal?

[david]

I was at the wholesalers today getting fish for the shop. They had T. Natans by the hundreds available. I have kept them before, and I have to many animals going now so I didn't get them but how do they get so many if they are illegal?

 

[david]

Where the heck you been, David?

 

[edward]

Because they are listed as a species of eel on the export permits and the import permits and the people at USF@W have not caught on to the listing again.. Colombia does not allow the export of vertebrate other than fish with only a couple of exceptions, farmed boas and iguanas. They are being illegly exported as fish and as such are illegal.
Ed

 

[john]

Has anyone talked to the USF&W?

 

[edward]

Hi John,
The last time the crackdown occured was because a west coast caecilian researcher pointed out the violation to USF&W (after aquiring specimens for her lab from an online source).
As they are not threatened or endangered and a few years ago, there was even a note in froglog about thier population actually expanding due to the practice of fishing villages dumping the fish guts into the water and providing an additional food source.
I don't know if anyone has notified them as of yet but I heard that they are currently helping USDA try and tgrack down some Giant African Land Snails that were illegally imported (Listed as an injurioius plant pest).

Ed