While resource managers and other conservationists worry about keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, in Austin they’re giving them a real Texas welcome.
In fact, just last week city officials dumped 3,000 of the fish into Lake Austin, according to the Austin-American Statesman. That’s on top of 10,000 they already put in the lake to control hydrilla, an aggressive plant that clogs the lake, fouls propellers and overtakes native plants.
The grass carp is one of the species of Asian carp that wildlife experts fear could bypass an electric barrier at the Chicago River and eventually get into Lake Michigan. The concern is that the voracious eaters will thrive, disrupt the ecosystem and threaten the survival of native species.
The ancestors of the potential Great Lakes invaders also had been imported to crop down unwanted plant growth in commercial fish ponds. But when ponds overflowed during storms, the fish escaped into the Mississippi River where they’ve become prolific and spread to the point that they’re knocking on the Great Lakes door.
So what’s up with Texas?
Well, the grass carp in question are sterile – the city pays $6.90 a fish to an Arkansas fishery to get them that way, the newspaper reports. And local officials want up to 12,200 more in coming months. I guess the idea is that they grow fat by cleaning up the lake but leave no progeny behind that pose a longterm threat.
The Texans are not alone: A South Carolina town is stocking more than 100,000 of the fish for the same hydrilla-munching chore.
Again, all these fish are sterile. Or supposed to be.
I’m not sure how they make sure that’s the case – are there individual inspections? But with those kind of numbers you’ve got a wonder if a fertile Myrtle or two might slip through.
Regardless, there is a real cost-benefit weighing going on here with using one invasive species to control one already well-established.
What do you think of that kind of trade-off?
Asian carp are the most efficent freshwater filter feeders in the world (D. Chapman expert) Bigheads have learned to root around in the bottom as well. David Jude only found one goby in 1990. Bath Illinois home of the redneck Fishing Tournament only saw one once. Only Chinook salmon need alewives to survive, so the official plan is for the alewives to be dominate, which destroys native fish recruitment, Perch Walleye etc…. Perch and walleyes would be prime predators for juvenile Asian Carp. The feds admit we have native predators for asian carp, they just need to be abundant. However the native predators we can use against asian carp gobies zebras etc… are also alewife predators and will eat baby salmon as well. So by plan only 2 to 4 million pounds of Perch are allowed, only 200 to 400,000 pounds of Walleyes allowed for all of lake Michigan and connecting waters. Versus billions of alewives 100 kilotons to 500 kilotons prefered. Don’t have to go to rocket school to see the problem. Fed Lies? Yep!
When they poisoned the river below one of the Chicago lock and dams two years ago… A ton of grass carp were found. There were almost 11,000 fish and 100,000 pounds of fish pulled from the river that is 7 miles from Lake Michigan… A huge percentage of that was grass carp.
Your article makes it sound like grass carp are equally as bad as bighead and silver. Lake Erie’s western basin had a bighead population in it 10 years ago… The population died off.
Don’t fear:
http://www.dispatch.com/content/stories/sports/2010/09/05/dont-fear-asian-carp-osu-professor-says.html
Yes, there are 4 species of Asian carp, and yes, maybe the grass carp can be found in the eastern Great Lakes, and yes, Asian carp are a source of protein for the majority of people in the world. However, a BIG NO to Asian carp in the Great Lakes. We don’t want them, we don’t need them and we must stop them from entering and degrading our still somewhat desirable fish community. They will be no substitute for catching rainbow trout (steelheads), brown trout, lake trout, coaster brook trout, Atlantic salmon, whitefish, walleye, smallmouth bass, yellow perch, and yes, Tom or Thamus whichever you are, yes to coho salmon and chinook salmon. We don’t want those boney, scum sucking, Asian, alien ,exotic, animal feed, immigrants. Give me those beautifully colored, tasty members of the Families, Salmonidae, Percidae and Centrarchidae.
Incidentally, a multi-million dollar Asian carp processing facility is being developed somewhere down south to utilize them for export to China as human food, and the surplus for animal food. I wish them success, but not in my back yard (NIMBY).
Thanks Thamus.
We always appreciate additional information. Here’s some more:
Resource managers are trying to keep all four Asian carp species from establishing themselves in the Great Lakes, says Kevin Irons, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources Aquatic Nuisance Species Program Manager.
Grass carp were brought to the U.S. in 1963 and are often mistaken for common carp. And they do cause significant ecological damage. Check out, The other Asian carp: Why grass carp deserve more attention, at http://msue.anr.msu.edu//news/the_other_asian_carp_why_grass_carp_deserve_more_attention
A few individuals have been already found in the Great Lakes watershed, mostly on the eastern end of the basin. There’s a map of sightings from the U.S. Geological Survey at http://nas2.er.usgs.gov/viewer/omap.aspx?SpeciesID=514
But that doesn’t mean that once they’ve been spotted that there is no reason to keep more from coming. Right now there is no documented evidence of a reproducing population, says Irons. In fact, it is possible that those discovered here are of the sterile variety.
“We’re very concerned,” Irons say. “We’re watching it. And if we saw reproduction, that would say that Bighead (carp) and Silver (carp) could also reproduce.”
Of course, that evidence may be just waiting to be discovered. There is no guarantee they aren’t reproducing yet either. But again, that doesn’t mean fish managers don’t want to halt new arrivals.
The biologists say it’s hard to rank varieties of carp in a pantheon of ecological harm. All can cause significant changes to a native ecosystem.
The bighead and silver carp eat plankton, an important food source for native species. The silver are the ones that catch all the attention for flying out of the water in a way that has even reduced water skiing within the Mississippi River watershed.
But Grass carp come with their own brand of ecological consequences. They not only eat the native vegetation that is eaten or used by native species, they are linked to harmful algal blooms, says Christina Hasak, a fish management program specialist at the Great Lakes Commission. “Which is another reason that we don’t want them.”
This article is so wrong it is funny. There are 4 types of Asian “carp:”
1. Black carp
2. Grass carp
3. Silver carp
4. Bighead carp
What the Great Lakes are worried about are the last two, bighead and silver carp. Grass carp are similar filter/top feeders, BUT after reaching a certain age ONLY feed on vegetation… That means they do not continue to out compete other fish. The big thing here that this article totally miscontrues is that GRASS CARP ARE ALREADY PRESENT IN ALL THE GREAT LAKES EXCEPT LAKE SUPERIOR. The barrier is not there to stop grass carp, grass carp are already past the barrier. It is the silver (kind that jump out of the water) and the bighead (animal vacuum cleaners) that they want to stop.
The thing that gets me is this polictical football and how much mistruth is being spread out there. Wisen up people and do your research, you will find that even the silver and bighead are not that much of a threat. You are being fed lies by the Great Lakes’ states to protect their artificial fishery they have created in the lakes around another invasive species: SALMON. Salmon do not belong in the lakes any more than the carp. To the person who wrote this article, stop spreading misinformation and research your work. To the gov’ts of the Great Lakes’ states, stop trying to promote gov’t boondoggles. What I posted above is nice and clean, yes it is frank… But frankness has to reign supreme in this type of argument because so many mistruths and flat out lies are being spread to unsuspecting people in order to create funding out of fear. Asian carp are the most humanly consumed food fish in the world outside of picky North American eaters.
Well shine my spurs! I wonder if introducing sterile carp to the Chicago River could help the Great Lakes
This story is not too surprising. We’ve known for years that, for some reason, people in Texas seem to lack good judgement.
One study I read, a very smart biologist said “using predators for invasive species control only works if they’re native” I agree with this guy, The chinook salmon/alewife plan is a perfect example. Chinook can’t survive without alewives. The lake can’t survive with alewives. Sacrificing an entire ecosystem for one fish, is just wrong, in too many ways.