Kankakee River Asian Carp

[Mike Clifford]

Story and photo:

http://heraldnews.suntimes.com/news/4816906-418/joliet-man-captures-giant-asian-carp-in-kankakee-river.html

[ronk]

Bad news.Hopefully if their #s increase they'll stay in the slower deep stretches of the river rather than find to their liking the shallower stretches smallies prefer.

[eugene f collins]

THANKS GOVERNMENT FOR STOPPING THE SPREAD OF THESE FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

I WANT TO SAY SO MUCH.....:angry:

[Scott Ferguson]

THANKS GOVERNMENT FOR STOPPING THE SPREAD OF THESE FISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I WANT TO SAY SO MUCH.....:angry:

 

How is this the governments fault? The government has no magic wand for removing invasive species. They did not introduce them into our rivers. If there was a way to get rid of them without killing every living thing in the river, it might have gotten done. Blame the aqua farmers who brought them in and let them get away. But you can't put this on the backs of the DNR.

Invasive species are everywhere. Salmon in the Great Lakes are not native. Smallmouth have been introduced out West and the trout fishermen treat them like we treat bighead carp. In Maine, muskies are an invasive species and they can't get rid of them.

Eurasian milfoil, purple loosestrife, gobies, zebra muscles, Norway rats even pheasants are all other invasive species that are here to stay. There are thousands of transplanted plants and animals. Some of which have been a benefit others not so much. Asian Carp are here to stay and there is not much man can do to permanently keep them out of anywhere they want to go.

[Mike Clifford]

Well, biological separation is often discussed as one way. Cut off the ties to the Great Lakes and they will need to walk on land. Maybe flood events will still push them in, I'm not familiar with the whole process.

Hard to keep up with all the commissions, studies and plans for these things.

[Travis]

How is this the governments fault? The government has no magic wand for removing invasive species. They did not introduce them into our rivers. If there was a way to get rid of them without killing every living thing in the river, it might have gotten done. Blame the aqua farmers who brought them in and let them get away. But you can't put this on the backs of the DNR.

Invasive species are everywhere. Salmon in the Great Lakes are not native. Smallmouth have been introduced out West and the trout fishermen treat them like we treat bighead carp. In Maine, muskies are an invasive species and they can't get rid of them.

Eurasian milfoil, purple loosestrife, gobies, zebra muscles, Norway rats even pheasants are all other invasive species that are here to stay. There are thousands of transplanted plants and animals. Some of which have been a benefit others not so much. Asian Carp are here to stay and there is not much man can do to permanently keep them out of anywhere they want to go.

 

 

Good call Scott. I feel your pain Eugene but it is not the governments fault.

 

Here is a list that puts things in prospective.

 

#54 Large Mouth Bass.

 

http://www.issg.org/database/species/search.asp?st=100ss

[Paul F]

Good call Scott. I feel your pain Eugene but it is not the governments fault.

 

Here is a list that puts things in prospective.

 

#54 Large Mouth Bass.

 

http://www.issg.org/...ch.asp?st=100ss

 

Also on that list are Brook and Brown trout... Interesting read, Thanks for sharing that.

[Norm M]

The sand and sediment is also playing havoc with habitat for macro inverts and crayfish.

[jim bielecki]

I'm going to chime in here and go with Eugene on this one. Perhaps invasive introductions are inevitable, however, there could have been more done to prevent the escape of asian carp by enforcing very strict governement regulations. Same with zebra muscles...the balast water that shipping ships use could have been better regulated; this may have slowed down the introduction. In any case, the problem of invasives can be controlled but not prevented when proper actions are taken. The difficult part is funding...which again is the government's realm of control. The sad part of this is there are so many problems occuring simultaneously that priorties need to be established to decide which problem money is going to be allocated to. The future of these fish is unpredictable. However, the truth of invasives is very real; without control, they can and do take over water ways. Snakeheads (imported for aquariums) are one such invasive that will outcompete almost every freshwater fish...no one predicted that the release of this fish would have been so devastating. There was also an episode of River Monsters where the fresh water pacu took over....they were so competetive that the vegetarian pacu evolved into a carnivore....accepting meat as an alternative. As a result of their introduction, the native crocodile numbers were decreasing due to habitat loss...the vegetation served as nurseries for the young.

 

People may have the ability to erradicate terrestrial species if the pressure was high enough...(look at the passager pigeon, buffalo etc), however,aquatic invasives are SO adaptable and spread so fast that even the best efforts will simply contol them...not erradicate them. They cover too much realestate. I like to think Asian carp (or any invasive) can be controlled with the right price tag on their head. If there was a bounty for them at a dollar per fish, I know I would be out there scooping 'em up. You can easily get 100 fish per day...on some days....100 fish per hour! Then again, do they truly outcompete other fish? That hasn't been proven but with enough numbers, I believe they can destroy the food chain that many natives rely on for proliferation. As a filter feeder, there is a lot of damage it can do to a number of species...muscles, clams, and fish fry for sure.

 

Man made evolution....scary isn't it. I think the best we can do is to get more people to join conservation groups such as the ISA and put forth our best efforts.