“The fish were imported in the 1970s to help wastewater treatment facilities in the South keep their retention ponds clean. Mississippi River flooding allowed the fish to escape and then move into the Missouri and Illinois rivers. Some species can grow to more than 100 pounds.”
Gee a non-native species gets loose and starts to multiply geometrically. Who would have thunk it? /sarc
hopegfully they don't practice catch-and-release like ICE:
"ICE Says It's Caught-and-Released 506,232 Illegal Aliens Who Are Now Fugitives"
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2585236/posts
BTW, Hillary Clinton, in a rare moment of good sense, actually proposed a useful idea to deal with the Asian Carp. She has suggested encouraging commercial fishing of the carp for shipment to overseas market where the carp is regularly eaten, and exploring domestic sales possibilities.
I’ve had several types of Asian carp in China. Lemme tell ya, it is one tasty fish! A little on the bony side, but the meat is very good eating. I think it could be a hit in the restaurant scene, though they would probably have to market it as something other than “carp”.
Think of it as evolution in action (h/t to Jerry Pournelle)