Whoops, sorry for the long lag in reply time, I'll try to answer all of your questions here
ORDiver wrote:You should do an intruductory post that says a little bit about yourself. People will be more likely to respond to your posts. Right now it seems, from your posts, that you may be someone looking for live Grunt Sculpins to put in an aquarium or...eat? Are you a scientist or a strange consumer of live grunt sculpins?
I keep a 310 gallon coldwater system in my garage. I currently have one grunt sculpin amongst several other very intersting species that would take way to long to list
Havn't thought of eating one, they seem a little boney for my tastes
I'm in the process of starting a coldwater marine collection business geared at smaller species of fish and invertebrates for the ornamental marine trade.
Jeff Kruse wrote:Ha, The law will probably allow you to eat the grunt sculpins maybe even 15 a day but it probably wont allow you to keep a few alive in an aquarium.
If you do set up a cold water tank (I had one for 14 years and it was awsome) just realize that you should never put back a fish that you had in the tank. If it gets to big just kill it and feed it to the anemones.
ODFW is still working on my commercial permits and licenses, they will be ready with everything for me by December so I can start going January 1st. As of now, I collect just for my own personal tanks under the sport fishing regulations. I'm allowed 7 fish in aggregate that fall under "Other Marine Fish" and 10 "Other Marine Invertebrates" per person per day.
I have a one way policy with all of my animals, since some things have come from live fish tanks at seafood stores so I wont risk introducing a foreign disease or invasive species. If I take it home with me it stays with me until its life is complete.
Beefcake wrote:Okay, I'll "bite". I am a novice diver that happens to own a small commercial boat with HMS (Albacore) licenses. The boat is being re-powered, so I might not be back in the water this season. What type of fish are we talking? Food, bait, or other? Live transport is tricky and requires special licensing in most cases. The only food fish that I'm aware of that allow live transfer are rockfish under a special license. I haven't paid attention, but I think live-transfer of baitfish is heavily regulated based on concerns of invasive species / bucket biology (ie. I sure wish lost lake had "xxxxxx" species in it, so I think I will plant some).
Admitedly, I don't know anything about Oregon's laws regarding collection of aquarium fish. I don't think either of the available classes of commercial licenses cover this (commercial fishing license or commercial bait license).
So, can you give any more information on your project? Are you looking for live bait for springer fishing (kidding; live bait is illegal in freshwater); or are you looking for broodstock for an aquaculture project; or are you just hoping to create an area-specific aquarium for your office?
All the fish and inverts I am after have little if any commercial value as food, all will be going into my personal tanks for the time being. After the 1st of the year I will have all the appropriate commercial licenses to catch for myself, purchase from others, and sell them both wholesale and retail. The live transport only requires filing for a commercial live transport permit from ODFW, which is free.
Feel free to ask any other questions you may have
Here's a picture of my grunt sculpin:
And one of my display tank: