Posted on 01/19/2010 5:31:51 PM PST by NormsRevenge
CHICAGO (AFP) – Huge Asian carp, which act like "aquatic vacuum cleaners" and leap into the air when spooked by motorboats, may have invaded the US Great Lakes despite a massive effort to block them, officials said Tuesday.
Researchers analyzing water samples have discovered fragments of Asian carp DNA in Lake Michigan, although there is still no evidence that that fast-breeding fish have breached electric barriers set up along Chicago-area waterways.
"Clearly this is not good news," said Major General John Peabody, commanding general of the US Army Corps of Engineers' Great Lakes and Ohio River division.
The Corps is one of a host of state and federal agencies working to stop the spread of the voracious carp which can grow up to seven feet long (2.1 meters) and weigh 150 pounds (68 kilos).
Federal officials have warned that Asian carp - which have no natural predators - could have a "devastating effect on the Great Lakes ecosystem and a significant economic impact" on the seven-billion-dollar sport and commercial fishing industry.
"From what we have seen in other parts of the country, Asian carp could out-compete our native, sport and commercial fish in southern Lake Michigan," Charlie Wooley, deputy regional director of the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), said in a statement.
"We call them an aquatic vacuum cleaner because they filter important food resources out of the water and turn it into carp biomass."
It's possible that the DNA discovered in two different samples could come from a decomposed carp which was carried through the electric barriers, officials said.
Or it could come from eggs that were transported on the belly of a bird. Another possibility is that flooding may have allowed the carp may to swim around the barriers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
Go out in your boat with a 12 gauge and yell pull.
How about putting a bounty on these carp. We are pretty good at causing extinction.
They’re already a nuisance here in the rivers of Missouri....things have been jumping into boats and striking people...and they get HUGE!
some good pics here.
http://www.riverbills.com/asian_carp.html
Be careful out there.
You beat me to it!
Asian Carp Invasion Part II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ChwJiKKBdA
Lord Obozo faces a major fight over this one. There’s a 6 billion dollar industry at stake in Michigan alone and he’s going to side with the Chicago machine after giving the Great Lakes czar (also from chicago) billions to clean up the great lakes. 5 other states and Canada are considing legal action.
Michigan AG Mike Cox is collecting signatures from people around the great lakes to force closure of the channel till we find a means of making sure the carp don’t overrun the lakes.
Are they good to eat? If so, make and industry out of them and they will be under control before long or a great boon for the fishing industry.
Sounds like something to shoot at when it isn’t deer season!
Funny, they did a “fish kill” a few weeks ago, south of Chicago & found NO Asian carp!!
Boy one of those Benelli automatic shotguns would make for a fun afternoon...
The only real way to remove them is to put out seine nets, and then use some sort of posion to kill everything in that section of water.
Sooner or later, some roe will wash down the river and into the Great Lakes.
---
Fargo II .. a scene..
Deputy: What kil't him, Sheriff?
Sheriff: Asian Carp,, look at the fin marks..
and it must have been a big 'un.
Asian Carp Management
http://www.asiancarp.org/multimedia.asp
Chicago’s fault.
If those are no less edible than American carp, they’re fine canned. Get some canning supplies. And get after it. ;-)
Obama is siding with his Illinois homies on this one while throwing Stabenow, Levin and GRanholm under the bus................
This is a real major threat to the great lakes and these carp could very well destroy the entire fishing industry here.
Not just the great lakes but when these fish and their eggs are eaten by shore birds and seagulls, they in turn poop into the isolated ponds and lakes throughout the state and those eggs hatch...........
Keep in mind that Obama's loyalty is with his Illinois thugs and the current new Great Lakes Czar is also a homie of Obama..............
The Great Lakes environment will take care of this funny carp, but we must have a Major General and a deputy regional director of FWS to lead the way, what a joke.
HUGE, as in, the size of crocodiles; or HUGE as in, twice as large as native American carp that have been here forever, which would make them about two feet long? A photo might help those of us who never saw an Asian Carp. While in Japan, courtesy of Uncle Sam, I saw lottsa carp, but they were no bigger than the ones in the Suquehanna. Maybe THEY don’t qualify as ASIAN.
And what is the size of the specimen in the photo?
Do they have teeth? I think the giant snakehead is way more cool of a fish, they are toothy and very aggresive. I wish they were legal to own in the US hehe.
I’ve applied for a government grant to study this phenomena. I will not pay myself or employees a salary but I will be pay a Carpe diem plus mileage!
The only solution is to get out those fry pans and smokers and start eating them.
Asian Carp on the Barby!
My Asian wife says they are.
I've eaten regular Asian carp, and found it to soft and mushy. I didn't like it at all.
PROBLEM SOLVED! Recipe:
* 7 to 7 1/2 pounds whole carpfilleted and ground by the fishmonger.
* 4 qts cold water or to just cover
* 3 tsp salt or to taste
* 3 onions, peeled
* 4 medium carrots, peeled
* 2 tbl sugar or to taste
* 1 small parsnip, chopped / ground
* 3 or 4 lg eggs
* Freshly ground pepper to taste 1/2 cup cold water
* 1/3 cup matzah meal
They’re what you usually find in Gorton’s fish sticks. I just found that out.
Well, now that they are here, need to tag them all with a catchn’release program to study their habits then decide on a humane way to collect and return them to their natural habitat......or maybe just tell the Japanese they are some type of miniature whales, then stand back.
THAT figures. "Oh, look. There's the last of the walleyes. 'Wondered where they went to..."
I’ve been told...NO.
But I’m not a big fish eater.
Damn, but that was bad. ;-)
NOTE The following text is a quote:
http://hoekstra.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=192071
Hoekstra Calls on Administration to Take Immediate Action after Asian Carp Found
Washington, Jun 23 - U.S. Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, today called on the Obama Administration to immediately provide the Army Corps of Engineers with the authority necessary to fight the invasion of the Asian carp after one had been found above the Corps Electric Barrier System.
“The administration has been dragging its feet instead of taking bold decisive action to stop the invasion of the Asian carp,” Hoekstra said. “For far too long the effort has been reactive as opposed to proactive.”
Recognizing the urgency and lack of leadership, Hoekstra earlier this year introduced a bill that would make the Army Corps of Engineers the lead agency and provide them the authority to fight the invasion of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.
The bill would authorize the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite a number of measures to prevent the Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, including applying fish poisons, fixing locks and installing new barriers that include electrical, air-bubble and sound barriers that disorient fish.
“Closing the locks is not enough, and the Army Corps has acknowledged that they have no intention to do so,” Hoekstra said. “Time has been wasted with lawsuits and crossing fingers hoping that the carp will stay out of the lakes. Action has never been more necessary, and I hope that the administration recognizes the urgency with which this problem needs to be addressed and provide every tool to end this threat.”
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