Asian Carps In The Great Lakes

There are unwanted visitors threatening to make their home in the Great Lakes. Originally coming from Asia, the fish immigrated to the Mississippi River eventually making their way to the Great Lakes. Let’s take a look at the problem, the causes and effects, and the possible solutions of the Asian Carp Invasion.

Asian Carp where brought to America in the 1970’s because of their ferocious appetites, to keep algae and other matters out of ponds on catfish farms. Asian Carp average a full-grown length of five feet, and can surpass one hundred pounds. They breed and populate, and grow very quickly. Asian Carp are adversely affecting their un-natural environments by starving out native pond and river inhabitants. They have been slowly but surely migrating up the Mississippi River since their introduction to the Georgia portion. Their imminent arrival to the Great Lakes of Michigan has become a serious concern. This would be an issue because the Great Lakes are currently home to more than 43 federally protected species of fish. An invasion by Asian Carp

The California State Fish: the magnificent golden trout. It flawlessly glides through the water, its golden underbelly and blue-green back cloaking its body, making it one with the water. Appointed in 1947, the golden trout, or Oncorhynchus Mykiss Agua Bonita, are native to California, having populated only a handful of icy streams in the Sierra. However, this concoction of color is threatened, and every year, their population lessens.

In the article published by the Detroit Free Press “How do you get rid 750 trillion mussels in the Great Lakes” written by Kathleen Lavey, the author discusses how there is currently no technology that would help on a large enough scale to kill all of the invasive mussels. Lavey talks about how there are paints that contain chili peppers which muscles don’t atach to. Companies use this paint on intake pipes so they do not get clogged with muscles. Lavey also discusses 060Bio which a piece of foam that is infused with copper and zinc ions which muscles find unsavory. They place these on boats, that way boats don’t get infested with muscles and move them around the lakes. There are many different ideas out there but they don’t have a method that

Although lake George was able to benefit from the late-comer effect and learn lessons from Lake Tahoe, certain steps could have been done differently to better fight the clams. Lake George did spend less time forming the task force and formulating an initial plan of action. However, the best plan for stopping the spread of Asian clams is prevention. Moreover, Saranac Lake is the ultimate beneficiary of the late-comer effect.

Millions of animals inhabit the beautiful sources of water found on earth. Whether it's the Mississippi River or Nashua River fish flow freely and other animals occupy the waters. These bodies of water attract thousands of fisherman year round. People find joy in catching fish using a variety of different baits and techniques. One of these techniques is most often used for a type of fish called bass. A bass is a freshwater fish that can either be smallmouth or largemouth. A freshwater bass is a gamefish, olive green in color, and often described as an aggressive fish. This technique often used for bass fishing requires plastic bait. Plastic lures or bait are not biodegradable therefore if one is discarded or lost in a river, lake.etc. it likely

I have noticed that there is a lot of Sea Lampreys in Lake Superior. I live in the Duluth area and I love to fish. Being a concerned resident of the area I would like to see less Sea Lampreys in the lake. I think cutting the Sea Lampreys population to little or none will help out all of the fish in the area and will also bring a lot more fishermen to the lake. I hope that you can agree with me and I hope that we can come to an agreement on how to stop the Sea Lampreys from killing all of the other fish in the area.

Now days times have changed. You can no longer enjoy the things you once could. It has become dangerous to waterski or to even enjoy a boat ride down the river due to the Asian carp. These fish are startled easily by boats, and small watercraft. They can jump ten to twelve feet out of the water causing damage to boats and injuring humans. I have heard of people getting cuts from the fins, black eyes, concussions, broken noses and jaws, and even knocked unconscious from this species of fish. Not only are these Asian Carp causing physical damage, they are wreaking havoc on the ecological system. The main concern from the Asian Carp is the dangerous effects that it is bringing to our ecosystem. As an avid fisherman, this is of great concern to me. This will not only affect me as a fisherman, but also possibly hunters, bird watchers, boaters, even jet skiers and water skiers are

The Asian carp can only hurt the Great Lakes ecosystem. Because they eat the same food as the filter feeding fish in the food chain, competition is great. If the fish at the bottom of the food chain do not have food, then they will die off. This means that the bigger fish that eat the small fish that have died off will have no food, and so on. Therefore, there will be a mass starvation and the ecosystem will be destroyed. The native fish, such as trout and walleye, would be starved off. This will kill the fishing industry in the Great Lakes. The CBC broadcast also mentioned, “[The invasion of the Asian carp] would unravel the aquatic food web and threaten the region’s $7 billion fishing industry, and on the Ontario side, a commercial fishery worth up to $215 million a year.” With that much loss at risk, it is worth the money it is going to take to stop and prevent the Asian carp from taking over the Great Lakes.

Zebra mussels may seem to be small and harmless creators, but these invasive species are taking over the ecosystem. First appearing in the Great Lakes, but over time has spread all across the U.S causing huge problems. Zebra mussels are negatively impacting lakes and rivers, as they are invasive species, and are killing may native species.

Species have been invading the Great Lakes for a very long time. “Scientists estimate that there are more than 185 invasive species in the Great Lakes today.” One of the species that invade the Great Lakes is the Round Goby. This animal usually feeds on fish eggs, Yellow Perch, Bass, and Walleye. The Round Goby is an invasive species because it kills other species, or it can make them extinct. Another example of invasive specie is Quagga Mussel. The Quagga Mussel usually sits in lakes or oceans, building up over a long period of time, this leads to millions, and millions

We need to decide if we want the economic benefits or if we want to save our ecosystem for the future generations to enjoy. Spotted bass are being considered an invasive species by some biologists. In 1993 a group of biologists in Louisiana put tracking devices in spotted bass to try and learn more about this species that was becoming more prevalent in the Flint river. The same group of biologists did a follow up electro-shock in 1999. The electro-shock showed that this population of bass was growing at an extremely rapid rate. The population of these fish had more than doubled and the other fish species had decreased, especially the largemouth and smallmouth bass. There was another electro-shock done in 2005 that showed the same results. The spotted bass population was growing rapidly and the largemouth and smallmouth populations were dropping. A different group of biologist decided to follow up on the studies that were done in earlier years. They found that the largemouth populations are struggling and the smallmouth are no longer in the Flint river. According to North American Journal of Fisheries Management, the recent introduction of spotted bass along the upper Flint River has caused great concern among anglers and fisheries managers about the potential negative impacts.

I will say that as much as the expression “Canary in the coal mine” implies an early warning of danger in mines so does it in water too. In this case the fish directly helps us know the extent to which our ecological sphere is damaged, and helps humans to take the necessary precautions to save the environment.

It’s summer, so it’s time for the mayfly hatch! There are hundreds of species of mayflies (also commonly referred to as fish flies) in North America, representing a number of Families in the Order Ephemeroptera. Ephemeroptera comes from the Greek word for “short-lived” (as in “ephemeral”), and it’s a good name because as winged adults, mayflies only live a few days. The most widespread burrowing mayfly species in the Great Lakes is Hexagenia limbata, the Giant Mayfly.

A fishery by definition, is “the occupation, industry, or season of taking fish or other sea animals (shrimp, squid, clams) and selling them for profit” (Webster Dictionary). Atlantic Cod used to be considered as one of the richest fisheries in the world. Atlantic Cod, scientifically known as,Gadus morhua, are heavily bodied, blunt snouted fish that are typically brown or grayish in color with a series of spots located on their bodies along with a pale lateral line. This species of fish have a schooling behavior when feeding but remain isolated when traveling. The Atlantic Cod once densely populated the waters of the Atlantic ocean, from Greenland to North Carolina. Despite the wide range in location, Atlantic Cod are a nonmigratory species