If i catch plecos and leave them for dead,Is it animal cruelty or am i doing right in the fact that its an invasive species?

Im not a bad person lol its just that normally when you catch invasive species you can take them home and eat them while doing the state a favor at the same time. But plecos arent even edible
so what do i do? lol

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If you want to obey the law, you must kill it.

This article has some info about these fish -- bad news unfortunately --

http://www.chron.com/sports/outdoors/article/Armored-catfish-decimating-Texas-waterways-2175976.php


This is TPWD's website on invasives --

http://texasinvasives.org/



This fellow liked eating plecos --

http://rule-303.blogspot.com/2011/07/eating-plecos.html


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I kill it

Take it to the bank, smash the head with big rock, throw it in the bushes for recycling:

Kill 'em all!

You can see piles of them dead up the river on Falcon.

The netters wont even eat them.

Buzzards gotta eat too.

we kill them by the dozens.

If I'm a fish, I take my chances there vs the filet table.

I call them "lake roaches" and we all know what people do to roaches.

Freak-out and run around afraid of it?

I used to think only warm power plant lakes could support tropicals.

I got a market, sell 'em to me! Never met a fish that wasn't worth a buck.

Plecos are tropical but apparently at least as cold tolerant as tilapia. I've caught them in gill nets and traps in the Houston ship channel. Long as your arm. There I believe they hang around the ship's heat exchangers in winter to keep warm.

I have seen them overwinter in concrete ponds as far North as The Woodlands.

Invasive species is exactly what the name implies. They move in, take over and if they are not removed, soon that's all there will be in that body of water.

Simply leaving them on the bank won't kill any armored catfish. They can breath air tolerate insane heat and crawl on land. FYI they taste like lobster.

I was told they are opportunist,scavenging the bottom,not necessarily living on a wall covered with plant matter.I have caught them while fishing from the bank using punch bait.The ugliest fish in fresh waters.