Current through Register Vol. 50, No. 9, March 1, 2024
RELATES TO: KRS 150.180
NECESSITY, FUNCTION, AND CONFORMITY: KRS 150.025(1)(c)
authorizes the department to promulgate administrative regulations regarding
the buying, selling, or transporting of fish and wildlife. KRS 150.280(2)
authorizes the department to promulgate administrative regulations prohibiting
the holding or transporting of species potentially damaging to native
ecosystems. This administrative regulation establishes the species of aquatic
life that are prohibited in the Commonwealth.
Section 1. A person shall not buy, sell,
possess, import, or release any aquatic species not native or established in
Kentucky waters, except as established in Section 2, 4, or 5 of this
administrative regulation.
Section
2. Exceptions.
(1) A person may
buy, sell, import, or possess any aquatic specimens for aquarium use, except as
established in Sections 3 and 4 of this administrative regulation, but shall
not release the species into Kentucky waters.
(2) A person may buy, sell, import, or
possess sterile, triploid grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) pursuant to 301 KAR 1:171.
(3) A fertile, diploid
grass carp may only be imported or possessed by a certified propagator for the
exclusive purpose of producing triploid grass carp.
(4) Individuals of any aquatic species may be
immediately released at the time of catch back into the water body from which
they are caught.
(5) Tilapia
(Tilapia spp. or Oreochromis spp.) may be transported and sold live within
Kentucky for aquarium use or to a:
(a)
Licensed propagator;
(b) Licensed
live fish and bait dealer; or
(c)
Person, corporation, or other business entity that is selling fish for food in
establishments licensed for resale by another state agency or for sale as
wholesale food products.
(6) A person may buy, sell, import, or
possess goldfish (Carassius auratus) for use as bait.
Section 3. The live aquatic organisms
established in subsections (1) through (7) of this section shall not be
imported, bought, sold, or possessed in aquaria:
(1) Subfamily Serrasalminae - piranha,
piraya, pirae, or tiger characins;
(2) Astyanax mexicanus - Mexican banded
tetra, Mexican minnow, or Mexican tetra;
(3) Petromyzon marinus - sea
lamprey;
(4) Genus Clarias -
walking catfish;
(5) Genus Channa -
snakeheads of Asia and Africa;
(6)
Dreissena polymorpha - zebra mussel; or
(7) Neogobius melanostomus - round
goby.
Section 4.
Invasive carp.
(1) A person shall not buy,
sell, possess, import, transport, or release the live invasive carp species
established in paragraphs (a) through (d) of this subsection, except as
established in Sections 2(2), (3), and (4) of this administrative regulation:
(a) Hypophthalmichthys molitrix - silver
carp;
(b) Hypophthalmichthys
nobilis - bighead carp;
(c)
Mylopharyngodon piceus - black carp; or
(d) Ctenopharyngodon idella - grass
carp.
(2) A licensed
commercial fisherman or any person possessing a sport fishing license may
possess, sell, and transport the species of invasive carp established in
Section 4(1) of this administrative regulation if the invasive carp are:
(a) Not being transported in water;
(b) Dead or dying; and
(c) Being transported to a fish processing
facility.
Section
5. Commissioner Approval. The commissioner may permit the
importation of a banned aquatic species if the applicant demonstrates that the
species shall be used for legitimate scientific or educational
purposes.
STATUTORY AUTHORITY: KRS 150.025(1)(c),
150.280(2)
