Posted on 04/05/2013 9:03:43 PM PDT by haffast
Ever since Asian carp were accidentally introduced into U.S. rivers in the 1970s, the invasive fish have been hungrily making their way to the Great Lakes, causing residents of the watershed to dread the arrival of carp in delicate Lake ecosystems, and their potential impacts on the 7 billion dollar fishing industry that represents a major economic driver for the region.
Now, a new study suggests that Asian carp have breached southern Lake Michigan, although they have not yet arrived in numbers great enough to devastate native ecosystems.
Scientists at Notre Dame University, Southern Michigan University, and The Nature Conservancy spent two years searching for Asian carp by examining genetic material in the Lake and attempting to match DNA samples to two particularly damaging species of Asian carp, silver and bighead carp.
Out of 2,800 water samples, they found 58 positive links to bighead and silver carp in the Chicago Area Waterway System, which flows directly into Lake Michigan, along with six in western Lake Erie.
Questions remain about how many carp are already in the ecosystem—and how long it will take until the fish begin showing up in numbers large enough to cause serious harm.
“The most plausible explanation is still that there are some carp out there,” lead author Christopher Jerde of the University of Notre Dame told the AP. “We can be cautiously optimistic…that we’re not at the point where they’ll start reproducing, spreading further and doing serious damage.”
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“Our river fisheries are important but not valued in the billions of dollars,” Chapman told TakePart. “Whereas the Great Lakes fisheries are hugely economically important. If you cause any perturbations in fisheries like Lake Eerie’s walleye and yellow perch fisheries, that could be hugely problematic.”
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(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
That’s about as creepy as it gets.
I think the author may have meant Southern Illinois University - Carbondale, but don’t quote me. They were awarded a 1.1 million dollar contract from the state to study the problem and any benefits derived from the fish.
“I find the phrase “invasive species” racist, “specist,” and judgmental.”
That’s right...there just here for a better life, and to feed their families.
I never thought that they tasted like lobster either>>>>>
Actually they are a type of porgy with worldwide distribution.....so a grouper taste is most likely.
The West Coast Sheep’s-head male is colored differently than the East Coast Sheep’s Head/Prison-fish, being a dark blue/purple color overall with only one vertical white strip....the female looks the same as the picture in the original post.....and the same as the East coast variety.
Is that similar to worry about responses that drop a letter?
Yes, but much more serious since they dropped two whole universities due to lack of thorough research while I dropped one whole letter due to pore proofreeding.
The sheephead in lake erie aren't the same as the saltwater variety and they are unfit as table-fare.
Nothing eats them but the gulls after you rip their gills out and toss them back.
I tried one once and can't think of a worse eating fish, mudfish perhaps would be a tie?
Since these sheephead critters form the basis of a revived commercial fishery I (ass)umed it was for eatin' purposes. Never of course, tried one myself. If they taste so bad, maybe they use'm for cat food, fertilizer, fish oil, (The Secret Ingredient in Marvel Mystery Oil) or vitamins.
I confess I have enjoyed all the other fish served in OH, (Perch, trout, bass, and above all the super-eatin' walleye, as cooked up by Oscar's in Dublin). I am here to tell you that if it really is the Zebra Mussels that cleared up Lake Erie, they should get a medal. You could not go near that water in the 50's and 60's ... or so I am told.
Sheephead info request ping
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