Earlier this month, wildlife officials found a single specimen of Asian carp during a scheduled fish kill, in a canal leading to Lake Michigan. Asian carp are an invasive species, which were first released in the southern Mississippi and have since spread throughout the entire Mississippi River Basin. The carp breed easily, and have destroyed the natural ecosystems in much of the Mississippi River. Previously, an electric fence has kept the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. However, this finding is proof that the fish have breached the fence, and are close to reaching the Great Lakes, if they haven’t already.
Humans have abused the Great Lakes for hundreds of years. We have dumped our waste in them. We have drained them to build homes in the desert. We have overfished them to the point of ecological destitution. Worst of all, we have permanently altered the natural ecosystems with the introduction of invasive species. The Great Lakes already suffer from a plague of zebra mussels, and are just starting to recover from years of use as a dump for Detroit’s car factories. Now, they face a new threat, in the form of the Asian carp.
I have a personal connection to the Great Lakes. My grandmother lives on a canal of Lake Saint Clair. My uncles take all of the grandchildren out fishing and boating. Asian carp (which can grow up to four feet) pose a serious threat to boaters. There have been reports of jumping Asian carp breaking the bones of innocent boaters. Next time I go tubing with my cousins, I don’t want to be attacked by giant leaping fish.
The carp must be stopped, and the electric fence obviously isn’t up to the job. The Fish and Wildlife Service should make the invasion of the Asian Carp their top priority. If the fish make it into the Great Lakes, the entire region’s economy will suffer.
Tarm, Michael. "Single Asian Carp Found in Chicago-Area Fish Kill." Associated Press. 4 Dec. 2009. Web. 11 Dec. 2009.
I saw an article similar to this, and the author was proposing that they poison the carp. i don't see how this is feasible but it is potentially an option for this dilemma.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I agree that the carp must be stopped before they reach the Great Lakes. That would be catastrophic for the already strained ecosystem.
The idea of Asian carp is quite funny--giant leaping fish that might attack poor unsuspecting Amy on her tube that are capable of getting past electric fences. The reality of Asian carp are not so comical. In addition to these monsters injuring people because of their large weight and startling jumping ability, they also face no natural predators in their new invaded habitat. This means that they are capable of spreading very rapidly and smothering native populations as they force fish out of their natural niches.
ReplyDeleteTo me, poisoning does not seem to be a good method to eliminate the carp, because so much could go wrong. Native fish populations, already sagging under the weight of the enormous carp, could be completely wiped out if they were susceptible to the poison. The water could become dangerous to humans, resulting in negative effects from decreased revenue from recreation to illness in humans caused by contaminated food and water supplies. Ideally, the best way to stop an invasive species's spread would be to prevent its introduction altogether. But in the case of the carp, unfortunately, this is already too late.
This find has undoubtedly caused a great deal of unrest. We have seen throughout the Mississippi River how harmful these fish can be to the environment they infiltrate. Due to their extremely high reproduction rates and tendency to completely take over an area, it is of the utmost importance to keep them from entering the Great Lakes. However, it looks like this has already begun, and as of yet we do not have a completely successful way to eliminate these fish that doesn't harm other species, including humans. In order to prevent widespread damage, we need to continue to look for solutions to this growing problem.
ReplyDeleteI think that this article is very interesting. It shows that invasive species are indeed causing a problem, and that they need to be stopped. It also shows that there are things being done to try and prevent the spread of the carp.
ReplyDeleteI think that this article shows a very effective way of getting rid of Asian Carp. I think that the carp should be killed off. The carp are an invasive species and are only hurting our ecosystems. So I think that if it takes using poison then that what we should do.
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