Asian Carp Problem

[fishinwrench]

"Invasive species" is kind of a PC play on words isn't it ?

If you go kidnap something and relocate it, then you are the invader.... not the victim.  It wasn't the carp that invaded us, they had no choice in the matter.  

If I go out alley cattin' and give my wife the crabs then who is the bad guy?  The crab?

[straw hat]

Bighead Carp

This is a very large species, with a record size of 77.5 kg (170 lb) and a total length of 150 cm (59 in). But most places in the Mississippi River basin, a fish over 40 lb (18 kg) and 43 inches (110 cm) is considered very large. The average length is 24-32 inches (60-82 cm). Bighead carp are popular quarry for bowfishers; the bowfishing record, captured in the Mississippi River near Alton, Illinois, in May 2008, is 92.5 lb (42 kg).

The bighead carp has a tremendous growth rate, making it a lucrative aquaculture fish. Bighead carp are primarily filter feeders. They are preferentially consumers of zooplankton, but also consume phytoplankton and detritus.

Its value as a food fish has caused it to be exported from its native China to more than 70 other countries, where it has invariably escaped or been intentionally released to the wild. Stocking bighead carp or silver carp usually increases the total biomass of fish available for harvest, but can decrease the catch of native and sometimes more valuable fish.

Bighead carp and the closely related silver carp (H. molitrix) were imported to the United States to remove excess or undesirable plankton, thus improve water quality in sewage treatment plants and aquaculture facilities. However, some fish escaped into the Mississippi River basin, where they are now firmly established. A national plan for the control of Asian carps, including bighead carp, was finalized in late 2007.

In the United States, a limited market has developed for bighead carp, particularly in ethnic communities, and they are farmed in ponds for this purpose. The live or very freshly killed market is most lucrative. Because of this, bighead carp are often transported live, and may be a high risk factor for the eventual spread of the fish, either through release by the end purchaser, or through escape during transport. Another potential avenue for unintentional spread of bighead carp is through use as fishing bait.

Communities are attempting to contain the spread of the extremely invasive bighead carp. New York has banned the import and possession of live bighead carp, with the exception of New York City, where they still may be legally sold in live food markets (but they must be killed before they leave the premises). Possession of live bighead carp has been illegal in Illinois since 2005. Since February 2007, using bighead carp as fishing bait has been illegal in Missouri. In December 2010, the U.S. Congress banned the importation of bighead carp.

 

　

Missouri, including the Mississippi River mainstem, the Missouri, Chariton, Osage, and Salt rivers, among others (Bennett 1988; Robinson 1995; Tucker et al. 1996; Pflieger 1997; Rasmussen 1998; Southern Illinois University; Chapman, pers. comm.; Etnier, pers. comm.) collected in Brick House Slough [vicinity of Alton, IL] (Illinois Natural History Survey 2004);

In its native range, Bighead Carp has a fecundity ranging from 280,000-1.1 million eggs. In North America, fecundity ranged from 4,792-1.6 million eggs (Kipp et al. 2011). Bighead carp produce eggs that are semi-buoyant and require current to keep them from sinking to the bottom (Soin and Sukhanova 1972; Pflieger 1997). The eggs float for 40-60 hours before hatching.

The impact of this species in the United States is not adequately known. Because bighead carp are planktivorous and attain a large size, Laird and Page (1996) suggested these carp have the potential to deplete zooplankton populations. As Laird and Page pointed out, a decline in the availability of plankton can lead to reductions in populations of native species (like shad) that rely on plankton for food, including all larval fishes, some adult fishes, and native mussels. Adult fishes most at risk from such competition in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers are paddlefish Polyodon spathula, bigmouth buffalo Ictiobus cyprinellus, and gizzard shad Dorosoma petenense (Burr et al. 1996; Pflieger 1997; Whitmore 1997; Tucker et al. 1998; Schrank et al. 2003). A study by Sampson et al. (2009) found that Asian carp (silver and bighead carps) had dietary overlap with gizzard shad and bigmouth buffalo, but not much of one with paddlefish.

Asian carps have been shown to affect zooplankton communities (Burke et al. 1986, Lu et al. 2002, Cooke et al 2009; Calkins et al. 2012; Freedman et al. 2012; Sass et al. 2014).

Freedman et al. (2012) showed that resource use and trophic levels of the fish community change when Asian carps are present. They also demonstrated an impact on Bigmouth Buffalo and found isotopic values similar to Bluegill, Gizzard Shad, and Emerald Shiner.

Irons et al. (2007) showed significant declines in body condition of Gizzard Shad and Bigmouth Buffalo following invasion by Silver and Bighead carps. They state that ultimately, declines in body condition may decrease fecundity.

High growth rates, reaching 0.75 to 1.5 kg (1.65-3.3 lb) in their second year and 3 to 4 kg (6.6-8.8 lb) in their third year

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0073829

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02705060.1996.9663484

http://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70155982

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2FBF02850518

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/areas/greatlakes/explore/mapping-the-spread-of-bighead-and-silver-carp.xml

Must see the link above.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023/A%3A1009277012959

http://www.nature.org/ourinitiatives/regions/northamerica/unitedstates/ohio/newsroom/prestigious-journal-validates-asian-carp-research.xml

http://afs.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1577/M08-081.1?journalCode=fima

And many more....

Next - The Silver Carp

[snagged in outlet 3]

9 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

Give my wife crabs

Wrench 

If this happens will you give me the heads up?

Please. 

Pete

[fishinwrench]

2 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Wrench 

If this happens will you give me the heads up?

Please. 

Pete

I brought crabs into my house once, it turned out well.

[Stockton Lake Guide Service]

Does it really matter how they got here?  Most likely it was an Arkansas fish farmer with a biology degree.  There.., everyone wins.

[Old plug]

On January 8, 2016 at 4:15 PM, Walcrabass said:

Yeah,

  If they could invent a sex hormone that they were attracted to starting at about 1" in length MAYBE we would have a chance of eradicating them. Guess that lets you know where we stand huh??

Der Wallenhiemer

Well it is much easier than that. Kill all the young ones. Those older ones are like humans. At a certain age they are not going to spawn anymore anyway.

[Old plug]

WRENCH......I see miss fashion plate has returned. Victorias Secret was not enough now she is in to expensive Sea Food. Where is it all going to end. I used to eat that stuff all the time. You get bored with it sometimes. Except for Red Snapper. 

[Deadstream]

look at the pile of tackle behind wrenches daughter.

[Old plug]

Oh this is just a little spot he ties Flies. There is much much more. And little miss fashion plate can use it too very very well. 

[Smalls21]

11 hours ago, fishinwrench said:

I brought crabs into my house once, it turned out well.

except for what it did to the table, when you were done