Wow they really are some jumpers. How did they get there ? What harm are the causing ? Eating the other fish ? Is there a plan to get rid of them without harming the other fish?
Asian carp were imported from Asia in the 1970s for aquaculture purposes.
They have escaped aquaculture facilities into Midwestern rivers and streams.
On December 2-3, Great Lakes state and federal agencies treated a 6-mile stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to kill any carp that might be in the canal to prevent them from entering Lake Michigan while an electrical barrier is down for routine maintenance. The electric barrier is currently the only protection against carp entering Lake Michigan via the ship canal. eDNA evidence suggests the Asian Carp are already very close to the electric barrier in the canal and are also present in the Des Plaines River and I & M canal.
These invasive fish are a concern because they can aggressively compete with native commercial and sport fish for food and can disrupt entire ecosystems.
These carp are capable of consuming 40 percent of their own body weight in food each day but pose a greater danger to recreational users because of their tendency to jump out of the water when disturbed by boat motors. They can severely impact fishing and recreation. They can spawn multiple times during each season and quickly out-compete native species by disrupting the food chain everywhere they go.
Were they brought here and then let go by person's who no longer wanted to keep them, like in a fish tank?
Sort of like some lizards and snakes, people by here at the pet store and then just let them go because they no longer want them and then they cause mulitplying problems.
Introductions of Asian carps are combined results of stockings directly by or authorized by various agencies, unauthorized stockings by private individuals, and unintentional escapes from university research facilities, federal and state agency facilities, and private aquaculture operations.
One type the Silver Carp was brought in to test in sewage plant ponds and maybe Fish Farmers were raising some in ponds. At some point they made their escape due to flooding rivers or people transporting "minnows" or something. I used to fish the regular carp (also an imported invasive species) and once caught one 28 pounds while ice fishing.
Are these carp good to eat?
In Florida, we have Burmese Pythons, they're even in metro areas like Miami and can grow to over 150 pounds. These are thought to be "freed" pets from over the years, but many of them are also thought to have escaped during hurricanes from pet stores.
Your Asian Carp are the result of importing these carp by fish farms and bred to control weeds in fish ponds in the south and they escaped during the floods in the 1980s or 90s and have come north in the rivers and will eventually get into the Great Lakes. They can grow as large as 100 pounds! That's a big fish!
Asians eat the carp, but the non-Asian market is slow getting into it because of the name "carp!" I read an NPR report that said that some people think it's better than smoked salmon and think we need to change the name of the fish to create a market for it.
I also read that over 100 other invasive species have already made the Great Lakes their home, this isn't the first.
I used to smoke some of the ones I caught as did the other carp fisherman. But the smaller ones of 4-7 lbs were best for smoking. Carp are very bony and the ones I am familiar with have unsightly black veins running length wise through the body and they are hard to clean. Maybe the meat could be steamed off and made into fish burgers. The smoked ones are delicious.
Yes the name change has worked for other species. The Slimehead became the Orange Roughy which made it popular.
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they are supposed to be good to eat
I will eat carp over bullheads anyday! (or crow!)lol But they are best smoked...
SLIMEHEAD?? My Gosh - that's like having "Butt" as a last name...why WOULDN'T you change it? (Sorry to any Butt's on here) I know, I know...it's just a fish. Who thinks up these names anyway?
