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Leaping carp invasion reaches Cincinnati



 
 
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Old June 30th, 2012, 06:43 PM posted to alt.fishing.catfish
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Default Leaping carp invasion reaches Cincinnati

Asian silver carp are here after wreaking havoc downriver

A new fish species arrived this week in Greater Cincinnati via the Ohio River, but don’t spend too much time searching for it in the water.

Chances are good it will find you first.

The Asian silver carp, an invasive species imported decades ago from Southeast Asia, is known for leaping up to eight feet out of the water when startled by fishermen, water skiers, pleasure boaters and anyone else unfortunate enough to disturb it.

Dozens or even hundreds of the skittish fish have been known to jump at the same time, turning themselves into 20-pound missiles capable of breaking boat equipment as well as the occasional nose.

“They have pretty solid heads,” said Jeff Thomas, the biological programs manager for the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission. “I’ve been hit by them. I’ve been hit everywhere.”

The discovery of the silver carp this week at the mouth of the Great Miami River in far western Hamilton County is a first in the Cincinnati region, and biologists say their arrival is bad news for everyone. They say the carp not only will spread along the Ohio River, but up tributaries such as the Great Miami, the Licking River and others.

The carp invasion joins a growing list of foreign species, such as the zebra mussel and the emerald ash borer, that have wreaked havoc on land and in water since coming to America.

Global travel and trade has made it easy for species to jump from their native habitats to new ones, and the silver carp have adapted exceptionally well to life in the American South and Midwest. With the sighting in Ohio, the fish now has been found in 16 states, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“You guys are going to be sad,” said James Garvey, director of the Center for Fisheries at Southern Illinois University. “It could be a real problem.”

Although silver carp are stars on YouTube, where they can be seen bursting from the water as boats zip by, they have been a scourge to both humans and native fish species for decades.

They spawn as often as three times a year and one female can produce millions of eggs. They crowd out other species and are voracious eaters, consuming so much plankton that the food chain gets thrown out of whack.

Other plankton eaters, including larval fish, are left with less food, and fish that feed on those species have fewer and skinnier fish to hunt.

Meanwhile, there are no predators, in part because no North American fishes are large enough to eat an adult Asian silver carp.

Silver carp, one of several varieties commonly referred to as Asian carp, arrived in North America decades ago when catfish farmers imported them to eat algae in their ponds. Thanks to floods and poor oversight, the carp escaped and made their way into rivers and lakes throughout the United States.

They moved steadily up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers for years, infesting tributaries and lakes along the way.

Until now, scientists thought they’d only made it as far as Louisville on the Ohio.

“They seem to have jumped a considerable distance to get” here, Garvey said.

He said the carp typically move on when their population expands to a point where food is harder to come by. It won’t be long, he said, until fishermen and pleasure boaters begin to notice.

“There’s no question it will be a concern,” said Brewster Rhoads, an avid kayaker and the chairman of Cincinnati’s annual Paddlefest. “If they’re jumping up and hitting you in the head, that’s a problem.”

Scientists and environmental officials have been trying for years to come up with a way to stop the carp’s movement upstream and into ponds and lakes. They are so worried about the fish getting into the Great Lakes that in Chicago they erected an electrified barrier across the only channel that connects the Mississippi River system to the lakes.

Even a deeply divided U.S. Congress seems to have found some common ground in the fight against the carp. Lawmakers will vote soon on a request to order federal engineers to come up with a plan within 18 months to keep the carp out of the Great Lakes.

One possible solution is eating them. Some have suggested creating a commercial fishing market for silver carp would help hold down the population.

Thomas and Garvey both said the carp are fairly tasty and should at least be suitable for use in animal food or for extracting fish oil. Garvey said they’re also pretty good when seasoned well and prepared like a crab cake.

No matter what is done about the carp, he said, it should happen sooner rather than later. Garvey said some streams in southern Illinois are so infested that it’s almost impossible for boaters or swimmers to enjoy a day on the water.

“It’s not as pleasant as it used to be,” he said. “You can’t paddle through it without one of them smacking you in the face.”

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http://news.cincinnati.com/article/2...6290108&Ref=AR
 




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