Detroit Free Press: The truth about Asian carp Pt. 1

[marmar]

CHICAGO -- Beside the muddy waters in between the chiseled limestone walls of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, signs with bright orange letters warn that below the water, an electrical field lurks, thrumming 24 hours a day at a daily cost of $20,000.

Officials say this electric fence is working for now to keep Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, although there's plenty of debate about that among researchers, scientists and others.

The barrier is the main line of defense against the much-feared invasive species entering the lakes and potentially wreaking havoc on Great Lakes fisheries and the sports fishing industry in coming decades. But this defense might not have been needed if the U.S. government had framed a more comprehensive, urgent policy in the late 1990s, when scientists first noted that Asian carp were reproducing in southern rivers, endangering native fish and beginning to spread like a virus.

Since then, the government's reaction to Asian carp has been a patchwork, first failing to recognize the extent of the problem and, once it did, failing to fund a broad national strategy to deal with the rising threat. That inaction has allowed the carp to grow exponentially in southern rivers to become an invading force headed north toward the world's largest freshwater treasure, the Great Lakes. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.freep.com/article/20110717/NEWS06/307170001/The-truth-about-Asian-carp-Part-one-six?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

[hobbit709]

1. Just one of many invasive species due to lack of thinking ahead.

[GliderGuider]

2. "Thinking ahead?" What's that?

For homo sapiens, "ahead" means "all the way till the end of next week". We're really clever algorithmic problem-solvers, but foresight is not one of our specialties.

[hobbit709]

3. Beyond tomorrow is too far.

[saras]

11. Dunno who you're talking about, but it isn't anybody I know

Humans plant trees with five-hundred-year lifetimes.

Humans spend decades building homes for their children, grandchildren, etc.

Humans farm. ALL farming requires at least a year of planning, often more.

I will admit that there is something about the frame of mind common to businesspeople that is actively hostile to long-term planning, but it is NOT a universal human thing. Especially if you factor in that industrialized culture is the weirdest, most atypical culture humans have ever attempted to manage, and the least reasonable to generalize from.

I think one of the most useful things we can do is come to understand this mentality and how to effectively fight it. Because we can't afford to tolerate it unless we're ready to go back to being hunter-gatherers.

[GliderGuider]

17. It's a question of perspective.

I'm glad you mentioned farming. It's a perfect example of the sort of short-term thinking I'm talking about.

In order to feed our growing population we have turned vast tracts of land into monocultural deserts. We pump out the water that's been accumulating in aquifers - sometimes for tens of thousands of years - to irrigate our partucular chosen species, drawing down the water tables and putting the future of the land itself in jeopardy. Our crops suck all the nutrients out of the soil, and rather than allowing the land to replenish itself we replace them with just three - nitrogen, phosphorus and potash - and tell ourselves that doing so is good farming practice. We spray the land with defoliant chemicals to eliminate any possibility of competition from plants other than the ones we have chosen. We alter the very genetic structure of our crops to make this wholesale chemical warfare possible. We push all other animal species away from the land we have claimed as our own, even killing them wholesale, lest they pose some competition for "our" food. The runoff from our fertilizers and pesticides contaminates other land, streams, rivers and even the oceans themselves. In the course of our growth we have appropriated as much as 40% of the primary photosynthetic productivity of the planet for our own purposes, leaving less and less to support the web of life on which we (in the long run) depend.

Very few understand that our farming has destroyed the prospects of other species, while being unsustainable in its own right. The Middle East today is an example of what farming does to the land, and we're in the process of doing that to much of the planet.

The homes we build for our children and grandchildren destroy yet more natural habitat, and the very existence of those children and grandchildren means that this ravenously cycle of destruction is guaranteed to get worse.

We will never be "ready" to go back to being hunter-gatherers, but it is one possibility of how all this might end if we continue on our course unchecked. If we would prefer a different outcome in the long run, it's a good idea to examine that possibility and truly understand how our current short-sighted behaviour could lead us back there.

[MichiganVote]

4. K&R

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Stop whining and fry 'em up-- once we start eating them...

they'll be extinct in no time at all.

[MineralMan]

6. There you go. Nothing else is going to work.

The major rivers are shipping highways, and the economic consequences of shutting down the locks and dams just aren't going to allow effective downriver control of this species. Quite frankly, it's too late now, anyhow.

So, what to do? They're easy to net, so commercial fishermen could harvest tons of these fish, if there was anything to do with them. They're tasty, though. Great fish and chips ingredients, if nothing else. We're stuck on other types of fish for every other method of preparation, but we don't give a damn what fish is in our fish and chips. Most often, consumers have no idea what fish is used anyhow.

So, that may be the answer, at least in part. The fish could also be processed into commercial fish meal, for various uses, including fertilization of crops. Lots of possibilities, if the economics of it make sense. If someone will buy them at a decent price the commercial fishermen will gladly catch them.

But, they're not going to stop the fish. Are the Great Lakes in danger? Nobody knows, really. But these carp are primarily river fish. They may not like the environment in the Great Lakes. I'm betting they're already in Lake Michigan, actually. It's just that the lakes are huge, the fish don't bite for sports anglers, and they don't jump in open deep water, so nobody really knows if they're there yet. We'll find out soon, though.

[mopinko]

9. they are in lake michigan, and have been for years.

sport fishers have caught them, and they have turned up when water is drained for some reason. there were quite a few found when the douglas park lagoon was drained to make some repairs in 200, if iirc. (lagoon is a leftover from the columbian exposition.)

they are now trying to dry up as many ponds and lagoons as they can. most of the "good fish" escape, and leave these things and buffalo carp, another problem fish, gasping on the bottom.

some chef was trying to convince people to eat them and wanted to change the name to silver fin, or some such. i think they probably make great pet food. perhaps when ocean fishing is no longer possible they will go after them.

[MineralMan]

13. The buffalo is a native species and isn't really a problem.

It's not a carp, either, but a member of the sucker family.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigmouth_buffalo

The Smallmouth Buffalo is a closely related species, also a sucker, and also not a problem.

[mopinko]

14. they stir up a lot of sediment

the really make the water too cloudy for other species. they kill ponds around here to get rid of them.

[MineralMan]

15. I suppose they could cause problems in a pond. Here in

Minnesota, you find them primarily in the large rivers and some lakes. They don't cause any problems. Now, the European carp, which was introduced in the 19th century is a major uprooter of vegetation and clouder of water. They cause a lot if problems in some lakes, but, there are few efforts to eliminate them. Long ago, people found out it was really impossible.

I've never seen a body of water where there were enough buffalo to cause a problem. Common Carp, on the other hand, cause problems in many places. Sometimes, the two species are confused by people. There are some similarities in appearance.

My largest Buffalo was 32 lb. I caught it on a nightcrawler. My largest Common Carp was 37 lob. It, too was caught on a nightcrawler. Both were caught in the Mississippi River, within the city limits of St. Paul, MN. Incidentally, I caught a 12 lb. walleye on a nightcrawler at exactly the same location. Big channel catfish, too. The Mississippi in Minnesota is a very healthy river, full of fish.

European Carp



Smallmouth Buffalo Fish



Largemouth Buffalo Fish



It's easy to see how they can be confused, but the mouths are very different. No barbels on the buffalo.

[TreasonousBastard]

10. The Chinese have been eating them for thousands of years...

and food is why they were brought over here in the first place. Tons of them are processed already as Kentucky Tuna.

Problem is they are kinda bony, so restaurants are skittish and they're filter feeders so they won't take a hook, disappointing the sportfishing crowd.

But, we net tons of virtually inedible menhaden for fertilizer and cat food, so here's something to replace the bunker boats.

This is not a problem-- it's an opportunity!

[formercia]

12. Sea Legs

Artificial Crab Legs made from Pollock and other trash fish. I think something similar could be done with these. No problem catching them, they jump right into the boat.

[pscot]

16. Gefilte fish

Or quenelles, if you prefer.

[xchrom]

7. recommend

[panader0]

8. There must be a good use for the carp

I've heard carp are not good to eat (too many bones), but how about fertilizer or fish oils etc.?