The invasion of the Asian Carp

[Tim]

Looks like they're traveling right up the Illinois river,.

Think they'll end up in the great lakes??

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=519235

[Tim]

Hmmm, looks like they might after all.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=519063

[Vic Smith]

Thanks, those are thorough articles.
Be interesting the see the further evolution of fish species
in these waters.
I worked at the U.S. Steel South Works mills in 1968 and well remember
being among the first to see some of the Coho that had
been introduced into Lake Michigan by DNR the previous 2 years.
Some were getting caught in the cooling water intake cages.
On maintenance runs whenever we stopped at that station our crew would
ask the engineer there to "show us what you caught." and he would pull
up a cage. Only saw a couple, but he said he saw them every day.
Many of us were fisherman, so it was of high interest.
I never fished the big lake, but knew many who did.
The reason I never cared to fish or eat the fish there is the damn
things were full of PCB's and mercury from the getgo, since being at
the top of the food chain they concentrated poisons.
Still don't understand how people eat crap like that.
A neighbor pushed a 20lb Coho on me despite repeated polite refusals.
I finally took it just to show it to the kids, but told him flat out I
wasn't going to eat it, but bury it in the garden.
The bigger they get, the more poison they collect.
I never did see in these articles you posted any evaluation of the
food value of these Asian carp - the ones not feeding in sewage
collection ponds. But I wouldn't knowingly eat a carp anyway.
My uncle used to catch carp, smoke them and sell them on the south
side of Chicago, and gave enough hints about how good they were that I
suspect he partook of that culinary sin.
But the Buffalo fish mentioned in the article are only a step above
common carp, so it's possible Asian carp might be their equal.
In that case, the Buffalo fishermen might be looking at a bonanza.
ahem.....Can you shed any....ahem.... light on this?

--Vic

[Tim]

I really dont' knnow of any solution, Vic. It doesn't really sound too
good for the commercial fisherman, BUT if there is a bright side to
this, It sounds to me like the carp do a good job of cleaning the place
up.

I imagine something that might work, to make it worthwhile catching
them, is catch'em, dry 'em out, grind 'em up, and use them for garden
fertilizer.

But, I'm sure someone else has thought of that...

[JohnH]

Maybe you could use some snakeheads up there to reduce the carp population.

[Tim]

Then there is another problem. What do you do when you have to control
the snakeheads?

[JohnH]

That's the problem we have in the Potomac now because someone stupidly let
some of those critters go.

[Calif Bill]

"Harry Krause" <harry....@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:HKOdnRD-vdTwBP3Y...@comcast.com...

> On 11/19/2006 12:27 PM, Tim wrote:
>> Then there is another problem. What do you do when you have to control
>> the snakeheads?
>>
>

> Vote Democratic.

Just different version of snakehead.

[Paul Cassel]

Harry Krause wrote:
> On 11/19/2006 12:27 PM, Tim wrote:

>> Then there is another problem. What do you do when you have to control
>> the snakeheads?
>>
>

> Vote Democratic.

The idea is FEWER snakeheads.