Tag: Invasive Species

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Jumping Asian Carp Killing Our Waters

You know it upsets me when I read about invasive species being introduced to our native waters and so I share the news with you to help me find relief! So thank you for your tolerance and patience with me. 🙂

Did you know that the Silver carp, one of the imported invasive Asian carp species can jump 10 feet out of the water? And did you know that it grows up to 50 pounds? Imagine water skiing or running your boat along a river and trying to dodge these jumping fish! Well that’s what they do on the Illinois River.

I read a report on these and 3 other invasive Asian carp species in USA Today while online today. It seems these fish are knocking on the Great Lakes’ doors and the Folks don’t want them in there! The Federal Government has been called in and the Army Corp of Engineers has been assigned the task of stopping these Asian carp. They’re currently using an electronic barrier to stop the fish, but they are also planning on poisoning the fish while they make repairs on this electronic barrier.

It cost the Army Corp approximately $40,000. in electric fees per month to run this barrier. What a waste! All because the US Fish and Wildlife Service thought it would be good to use these Asian carp to keep aquatic vegetation down and private businesses wanted their fish farming ponds clean!

If you’d like to read the full article and see a picture of the jumping Silver carp in action, just go to:

Invasive carp threatens Great Lakes

There’s a reason why certain species live only in certain areas of the world. I truly believe God knew what He was doing when He set up our planet His way. It’s unfortunate that we think we know better and end up ruining what we had naturally because of our ignorance. Maybe one day we’ll learn our lesson?

Here’s hoping so!

Catch you later!

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Cry-Babies and the “Me Generation” Or Freshwater Conservation Today

I was reading an article and the associated comments on that article about the zebra mussel infestation and how they’re dealing with it in Massachusetts.

Seems they’re requiring boaters to power wash their boats before being allowed to launch them into a large reservoir in order to help prevent the spread of the zebra mussels.

You can read the article here:
Rules on zebra mussel defenses protested

Having watched the devastation that we have brought to our native environment, I can hardly believe that fellow fishermen are crying like babies about having to take some precautions! As fishermen, we should be the first to take a pro-active stance when it comes to safe-guarding our natural resources.

Yes, there have been some acts of stupidity like the killer bees being brought over to South America and then letting them escape into the wild; the introduction of the snakehead fish into the Potomac river; or the many other foreign species now here and listed at InvasiveSpeciesInfo.gov but as a fisherman, I take pride in the natural resources available to me here in this great country of ours. Any opportunity to help make things better I’ll be happy to take. So my answer to those of you who are too lazy to do your part to keep our resources natural and native – go saltwater fishing instead! 😉

You won’t have to worry about spraying down your boat every time you want to launch it and you won’t have to worry too much about spreading invasive species. (Though if you read through the site I mentioned above, you’ll find that we’re even having problems with invasive species in our salt water resources now!)

So if you’re truly a freshwater fishing enthusiast, please take whatever action is necessary to help keep our natural resources as pristeen as possible – and please, whatever you do, don’t whine and complain about it!

Catch you later.