Aquatic Species Surrender Program

It's not uncommon for someone to get a fish and down the road find out they can no longer take care of the fish for one reason or another. What is the Fish keeper to do at that point? The fish keepers typically do one of three things: 

1. Find the fish a new home

2. Release the Fish into the wild

3. Kill the fish

The Aquatic Species Surrender Program is designed to make option number one, rehoming the fish much easier and prevent fish from being killed or released into the wild.

We don't pass judgement when taking in surrendered fish. We all have things happen we aren't prepared for or don't expect. We are here to help give the fish an extended life and protect our aquatic ecosystems.

We cannot house all the Fish at one location and one person cannot manage the whole thing alone. So we have developed a network of fish keepers not only across Kentucky but also in other states who want to help with this cause. When you contact us with your information of a fish for which you can no longer care, we reach out to one of the people in our network to arrange for the fish to be picked up. From that point the network volunteers will either care for the fish themselves or find the fish a new home.

It takes a special person to volunteer time, effort, and tank space to this project. If you are interested click the button below and fill out the questions in the email. 

Q. Do you charge for this surrender service?

A. No. Neither the club or the network volunteers are allowed to charge for this service. We offer our services free to help the fish hobby, help the fish, and protect our local environments.

Q. Will you buy the fish?

A. No. Because we offer this as a completely free service and because it is to help fish keepers and fish in need we are not allowed to pay for or buy fish.

Q. What if my fish is sick or injured?

A. Still reach out to us our team of volunteers are experienced with numerous fish illnesses and injuries. Part of our goal is to help the fish, and this goes for the sick and injured as well.

Q. What is wrong with letting the fish go back into the wild?

A. The majority of the fish in our hobby are raised in captivity and haven't ever been in the wild. Even those that have most aren't from around here and would have trouble surviving long term. Also releasing your fish into the wild risks introducing new diseases and parasites into the local waterways. Not being from these water ways a released fish can greatly disrupt the food chain and ecosystem. And beyond all that it IS ILLEGAL to release fish into waterways they didn't come from.

Q. What if I change my mind after I have surrendered the fish?

A. At the point you surrender the fish over to one of our volunteers you give up all rights to that fish and it becomes the property of the volunteer. It is our goal to move the fish quickly to their new home which may not be with the person that volunteered their time to pick up the fish.

When you decide you cannot care for your fish any longer and need to find it a new home you simply can click the button below to send us an email, bring the fish to any of our regular meetings, or message a club officer on Facebook.