http://www.glfc.org/fishmgmt/carp.php

 

If these carp reach the lakes and the proper funding is not allocated to help prevent the species spreading further, then the great lakes may end up being giant carp ponds. These carp are known to aggressively dominate the ecosystem, in many cases they make up 75% or more of the entire fish population of each new area they have spread into within a very short time period. NOT GOOD.

A couple of weeks back I watched a show on asian and silver flying carp.  These things are rediculously huge and apparently have a very large appetite.  I have read that these fish are not new to US water ways but have been migrating north about 50 miles per year.  Near Chicago the federal and state boys are getting together to build an underwater electric fence to prevent them from getting into Lake Michigan.  There is also a human safety issue with asian carp because they jump out of the water when they are agitated by passing boats and jet skis.  That would really suck to get knocked out of a boat by a 100 pound carp.  The TV show I watched was about some guy that catches asian carp for fertilizer using a huge above water net.

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"Chance favors the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur

Nothing eats these damn things either. 

 

I saw on the news a while back that they held a 'hillbilly carp tournament' where the asian carp where caught using only landing nets....and the nets were not allowed to be placed into the water!  They caught thousands of carp out of mid-air.  If that doesn't worry fisherman and boaters, I don't know what will. 

The goverment should really try to organize some bowfishing tournaments to try and reduce there numbers. They should bring some garbage dumpsters in for free disposal. They could also take out a bounty and pay 50 cents a fish it worked on wolves in the early 1900's. It also almost worked on coyotes. There alittle to smart and there is to much area to hide on land but in a river it might work. They really need to get this under control or it is going to cost billions of dollars and fishing related jobs!!!

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"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms." ~Thomas Jefferson, 1776

You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life."
~Winston Churchill

I am not sure if bowfishing would work on these things or not.  I think asian carp are a little more energetic then your average carp during spawning season but it would be worth a shot.  Apparently a case of beer, beat up boat, and a really big aerial net work the best.

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"Chance favors the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur

Do these carp damage the ecosystem by eating all of the baitfish or by eating the gamefish and their fry?

 

There are two types of asian carp that have made it into the Illinois River (which is connected to Lake Michigan); the bighead and silver carp.  Apparently these carp were brought into the U.S in the 1970s by catfish farmers to eat the algea in their ponds.  When the Mississippi River basin experienced heavy flooding in the early 1990's the carp escaped the catfish ponds into the local rivers and streams.  Both species of carp can grow to more than 4 feet long and up to 100 pounds.  Due to their fast reproductive rates the asian carp muliply quickly and consume large amounts of food (small fish of any kind).  As you can imagine the asian carp would take over an entire ecosystem by eliminating the food source for the native Great Lakes fish.  Here is a list of some interesting resources on the asian carp problem.  The EPA and other agencies are working hard to make sure the the asian carp do not make it into the Great Lakes.

Links

http://www.glfc.org/fishmgmt/carp.php
http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/invasive/asiancarp/
http://www.greatlakesforever.org/html/trouble/species.html

Video of asian carp (aka flying carp) jumping out of the water.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4627225444978786151&q=flying+carp&hl=en

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4539308790043919088&q=asian+carp&hl=en

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"Chance favors the prepared mind" - Louis Pasteur

Thanks but the video at night when the carp are jumping in the boat looks like those fish are getting excited when the flashlight is flashed back and forth and those fish look smaller then most carp are you sure those are flying carp