Alien species of American crayfish and red-eared turtles will be designated as "conditional specified alien species" from the 1st and their sale will be prohibited.
American crayfish and red-eared turtles, also known as "green turtles", were initially imported for food and pets, but due to their strong fertility, they are distributed throughout the country, adversely affecting their native ecosystems.
Therefore, based on the "Revised Invasive Alien Species Law" that protects ecosystems, a cabinet order designating American crayfish and red-eared turtles as "Conditional Specified Alien Species" came into effect on January 1.
Depending on the designation, import, sale, breeding for sale, and purchase are prohibited, and it is prohibited to distribute to a large number of people or to release it into the open air, such as disposing of the food in the river, and if you violate it, you will be imprisoned for up to three years or fined up to three million yen.
On the other hand, you cannot buy a new one, but you can continue to keep the one you are currently keeping as a pet, and you can catch it in a river or pond or give it to a few people free of charge.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, red-eared turtles in particular have a long lifespan of about 3 years, so they are difficult to keep them, so the Ministry of the Environment provides telephone consultations. The telephone number is 300-40-0570.
What changes with regulations?
When I was a child, I kept a red-eared turtle caught in a pond at home, and in an elementary school classroom, we all took care of American crayfish caught in the river.
Such familiar American crayfish and red-eared turtles.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, about 65,110 households have American crayfish and about <>.<> million households have red-eared turtles.
However, it was regulated by law because it also causes the destruction of the unique ecosystem.
What changes with regulations? What should I do in such a case? We asked the person in charge of the Ministry of the Environment in detail.
"Threatening the unique ecosystem"
Q.Why
are American crayfish and red-eared turtles regulated in the first place?
A.American
crayfish were imported from overseas as food for edible bullfrogs in the early Showa era, and red-eared turtles were imported from overseas for pet use in the 1950s. However, it is extremely fertile, and it has become a threat to the indigenous ecosystem by eating and chewing aquatic plants that fish and insects in the water feed on.
According to the Ministry of the Environment, this photo shows American crayfish breeding in a pond rich in aquatic plants, and six years later in the same place, but the aquatic plants disappeared and the water turned brown and cloudy.
In this pond Japan due to changes in the ecosystem the endemic and valuable aquatic insect "Sharp-breasted Modoki" has disappeared.
In addition, there have been reports of red-eared turtles being abandoned or run away from pets and breeding in ponds, competing with native turtles for food and location, affecting the ecosystem.
For this reason, it was decided to regulate it based on the "Revised Invasive Alien Species Law" enacted last year to protect the unique ecosystem.
"Released into the open air is banned"
Q.So
what will change depending on the regulations?
A.From
June 2023, 6, American crayfish and red-eared turtles will be designated as "Conditionally Specified Alien Species". Sale, purchase, distribution to distribute to many people, breeding for sale or distribution, and release into the open air such as disposing of in rivers and ponds are prohibited.
On the other hand, there is no problem with continuing to keep them as pets, catching them in rivers and ponds, and giving them away to a few people free of charge.
However, once you catch it and bring it home, you can't return it to a river or pond. In particular, the lifespan of red-eared turtles is said to be about 1 years.
It is necessary to think about whether you can keep it responsibly until the end, and then take it home.
"Crayfish fishing as usual"
Q.Can
I fish for crayfish in rivers and ponds?
A.You
can catch crayfish, so you can still fish for crayfish. You can also "catch and release" to escape on the spot when you catch it.
However, do not release it to a different location than the one where you caught it, as it may lead to the destruction of the ecosystem of that place.
Q.Can
I take American crayfish and use them as bait for fishing?
A.You
can use American crayfish as "live bait" for fishing at the same place where they are caught, but you cannot move them from the place where they were caught and use them as "live bait" in another place. This is because if you get off the hook and run away, it may affect the ecosystem of that place.
In addition, it is prohibited to use something that has been brought home for use as "live bait" for fishing in another place.
Q.Can
I breed them at school?
A.Breeding
for educational purposes does not require permission or notification. However, they must meet the standards for keeping animals set by the Ministry of the Environment.
According to the standards for keeping, it is necessary to prevent escape by placing the mound in a tank with a lid when keeping it in an aquarium, and securing a sufficient distance from the surface of the water to the land when keeping it in a pond so that it cannot go up from the pond.
On the other hand, if you keep it at home, there is no standard for such keeping, but if it escapes from the tank or pond even if it is not intentional, it is "released into the open air", so please refer to the standards of how to keep it and try to prevent escape by appropriate management.
Consultation dial installed
Q.What
should I do if I can no longer raise my current American crayfish and red-eared turtles?
A.Disposing
of the product in a river or pond is prohibited as "release into the open air". It is necessary to keep it responsibly until the end, but if you can't keep it, find someone to keep it for you and give it to them free of charge.
Q.What
should I do if I can't find someone to keep it for me?
A.If
you can't find someone to keep it for you, unfortunately, you have no choice but to kill it. When culling, please use an appropriate method that causes as little pain as possible, such as lethal injection or freezing, by asking a contractor who can dispose of it properly.
It is important to think carefully before you start keeping them so that you don't have to do that. The Ministry of the Environment has set up a consultation dial to provide consultation on breeding.
The number is 0570-013-110.
Sites that have been working on measures against alien species
How do you view this regulation at the sites that have been working on measures against non-native species such as American crayfish? I visited Nagaike Park in Hachioji City, Tokyo.
It is a park that utilizes an agricultural reservoir that has existed since the Edo period, and has become a place of relaxation for citizens with rich nature.
According to a survey conducted about 60 years ago, it was one of the leading aquatic plant producing areas in Tokyo, and various creatures also inhabited it.
However, when it was developed as a park about 20 years ago, many non-native species such as American crayfish, red-eared turtles, and black bass had already been confirmed, and the aquatic plants that had been prosperous in abundance had almost disappeared.
Therefore, in 2019, we carried out "kaibori" to drain the water from the pond and dry it.
As a result of the extermination of non-native species, aquatic plants such as "Junsai" and "Mizuyukinoshita", which were considered extinct in Tokyo, were rediscovered for the first time in about 60 years.
Since then, in order to protect the precious aquatic plants, we have installed traps in the pond to exterminate crayfish and continue to exterminate them.
This is the trap.
The food that automatically lures from the upper part is scattered in the basket.
The crayfish that are lured to feed are put in the basket below through the hole.
On the day I visited, there were more than 3 crayfish in three days.
Atsushi Katayama, a park ranger in charge of managing Nagaike Park, says, "I feel that since we started exterminating them, the number of creatures such as Yoshinobori and Matsumoushi has increased."
However, it is said that revived aquatic plants are quickly cut and lost in places where crayfish can enter.
We protect them by enclosing them around aquatic plants, but we are clouding our faces that there is no end to measures against alien species.
Atsushi Katayama:
"We freeze and slaughter the exterminated items, but the people who released the alien species into the field are the most responsible. It will also create a trigger for creatures that have been reduced in number due to non-native species to revive again, so I hope that this designation will make many people aware that they are affecting various native creatures and be aware of not throwing their own creatures outside."