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potential bad news for the great lakes...

792 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  fshflthnkng, 
A
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100624/ap_on_bi_ge/us_asian_carp_great_lakes

This hits pretty close to home for me as I'm a transplanted Wisconsinite. I've been planning on heading home to catch some Great Lakes steelface one of these springs if I can get away from work. This is sad news for the Great Lakes fishery as a whole if Asian Carp have really made their way into the system. Granted, the Lakes have always been plagued by invasive species, ie sea lamprey - pacific salmon/steelhead are not native themselves, but if unchecked these carp could potentially wreck havoc.
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Gary Thompson
I read about this this AM.
The asian carp could have been stopped many, many years ago, but no that would have cost to much $$$$
What is it going to cost now?
"Pay me now? Pay me later?"
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KerryS
"A few isolated incidents of Asian carp in this small section of the Illinois Waterway does not mean existing barriers have failed," said Biel, also executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois. "Additional regulatory controls and river barriers should be explored before permanent lock closure is even considered."

These words mean that asian carp will most certainly get into the lakes. Some people are just plain stupid.
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Be Jofus G
New self sustaining commercial fishery?
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Gary Thompson
New product on the shelf beside the canned tuna.
Canned carp in spring water or oil.
How about honey mustard, or horse radish
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A
Let's hope not.. I hate the doom and gloom that seems to rear its ugly head into my dreams of anadromous fishing both in the state of WA, and back in the Midwest. All I want to do is stand in a river, wave a two handed graphite stick around with a big jumble of feathers and hook attached to the line. Maybe even hook something as beautiful as a steelhead. Oh well.
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Lugan
This is nothing new - neither the entrance of an invasive nor the dire prediction of calamity. IMHO it's all a moot point for the Great Lakes because invasives have already devastated the Great Lakes decades ago.

I grew up in Chicago and watched Lake Michigan's and the other Great Lakes' natural ecosystems absorb numerous invasives. Off the top of my head: Lamprey, alewives, steelhead, brown trout, chinook, coho, goby, zebra mussels, European carp, ruffe, millfoil. If I recall correctly, there are about 150 invsive species in the Great Lakes, and these have long long long ago displaced most natives.

Sure, it's bad that another invasive has entered the ecosystem, but my point is that the ecosystem is already vastly altered from its original form (lake trout and 7 species of whitefish - all vanished or nearly so). I'm apt to worry more about ecosystems that are still salvageable.
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shotgunner
Well Lugan, I feel we may as well do the best we can with what we have left. Which is very salvagable considering the alternative. Overlooked our indiginous Brook Trout? An invasive to your neck of the woods that I'm guessing might keep you lying awake at night. I try to avoid pointing fingers towards political influences but restoring things to original natural states sounds strangely familier.. With a Chi Town seat holder now in the big chair we [MI, IN, WI, MN] couldn't be facing a worse time for federal support. One thing of interest is the pit bull like death grip IL utilised when BP [Biggest polluter] was granted by Indiana [spelled with a 'blind' eye] granted the first state permit since the 70's to actually increase the amount of toxins rleased [read dumped] into lake MI. It was actually very easy to get shut down since the first federal inspection revealed they were ALREADY above and beyond what the new increased permit would have allowed. Odd [NOT] how with the shoe on the other foot they've become entrenched and showing teeth.

No good solutions.. But some much better than others.

Edit: "lake trout and 7 species of whitefish - all vanished or nearly so"

Not so, thriving populations of Lakers in Lake MI. Superior better yet, she never lost hers due the Sea Lamprey.
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F
Also a prior cheesehead here...
I wouldn't consider species intentionally introduced by the D.N.R. (yes the all knowing)
as invasive. That would include steelhead,chinook,coho, and way bak when the German brown trout.
All those were introduced by 'professionals' and not weekend biologists.
Remember when you could go out a get a limit of great jumbo yellow perch in no time? almost gone now..and how bout those great chub's that seem to also be gone now? I really would like a box of smoked chib's like my father used to bring hiome,delicious!
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