Prohibiting pet crayfish does not consistently reduce their availability online

Zen Faulkes

doi:10.1590/2358-2936e2018023

Abstract

Abstract The pet trade is a significant source of introductions of non-indigenous aquatic species, such as crayfish. To test whether legislation that regulates the ownership of ornamental animals for aquariums had the desired effect of reducing the availability of those pets, classified advertising websites were monitored for sales of crayfish in jurisdictions with and without legislation regulating the ownership of crayfish. Advertisements from Canadian provinces with legislation against owning crayfish were compared to provinces without such legislation. The population adjusted number of advertisements for crayfish, and number of distinct sellers of crayfish, was significantly lower in one of two provinces that prohibited crayfish compared to provinces that permitted crayfish. This mixed outcome suggests that legislation alone does not consistently reduce online trade in crayfish.

Highlights

The pet trade is a large but often poorly understood market (Calado et al, 2003; Rhyne et al, 2012)
A more mundane but common problem is that the pet trade is a major pathway for introductions of unwanted non-indigenous species (Duggan et al, 2006; Keller and Lodge, 2009; Chucholl, 2013), for freshwater aquatic animals (Duggan et al, 2006; Yanai et al, 2017) such as crayfish (Chucholl, 2013; Faulkes, 2015a; Lipták and Vitázková, 2015; Pârvulescu et al, 2017; Weiperth et al, 2017)
Craigslist advertisements are grouped by cities, and both Canadian and American cities are included in its listings

Summary

Introduction

The pet trade is a large but often poorly understood market (Calado et al, 2003; Rhyne et al, 2012). A more mundane but common problem is that the pet trade is a major pathway for introductions of unwanted non-indigenous species (Duggan et al, 2006; Keller and Lodge, 2009; Chucholl, 2013), for freshwater aquatic animals (Duggan et al, 2006; Yanai et al, 2017) such as crayfish (Chucholl, 2013; Faulkes, 2015a; Lipták and Vitázková, 2015; Pârvulescu et al, 2017; Weiperth et al, 2017).

Methods

Results

Conclusion