I hand sorted HBG that were going into a pond and pulled 4 BG from the batch. I did the same with the RES that went into the pond and 3 years down the road the owner catches what looks to be pure Northern Bluegill from the pond that are over 8" long. If I let enough BG slip through the cracks to create a reproducing population in a pond then a person that doesn't see 10's of thousands of fish a year would have an even harder time.
These were 1"-2.5" sized RES and HBG. For me, a HBG is easy to tell from a BG, even at that size. A BG mixed in with RES at that size is WAY harder (for me) to tell for sure what is what.
esshup (and any other fish suppliers, or managers that frequently deal with fish suppliers),
I know you would only source fish from a supplier that you trusted. When you were sorting fish to get the right species, was the mixture of fish in a batch you got from a supplier, or were they from fish you collected yourself from a multi-species pond?
More general question:
When members report getting some undesired fish species mixed in with their purchases, is that due to sloppy protocols by the fish supplier (at either their facilities or transport operations), or will fish get out of their designated spaces - at even the most diligent fish suppliers?
