Asian Carp

[1Tom]

Agreed, why are they regulating the taking of these? The commercial netters in IL need a special permit to take them. I think some guys in IL are turning them into fertilizer, I also heard some company is canning them and selling them as premium cat food. Parts of the Mississippi River around here are so ate up with them you can't even hardly run the boat.

Well, I hate to burst your bubble and all, but I do hold an Illinois commercial fishing liscense. There are no special permits to take them, the only rule is that they CANNOT be alive. All of the asian we catch in our hoop nets get sliced, diced, and dumped on the bank for critters to eat. I know of several other guys that run tramble nets and they make one good living catching the asians and selling them to a cannery in Savanah, IL. I don't know what the cannery does with them and frankly I don't care.

And if your ever around Bath, IL. Check out the redneck fishing tourny that is held every year. It's another good time as long as you have a legal liscense, you can net, shoot, or just let the asians jump in the boat. When it's all said in done there are 1000's of lbs. less of them.

[SEMOmike]

From the Southeast Missourian newspaper. Why do you need a "contract" awarded to you in order to take them out of the rivers?

CARLYLE, Ill. -- The first commercial fishing venture to remove pesky Asian carp from the Kaskaskia River below the spillway at Carlyle Lake has been deemed a success.
Rob Maher, commercial fishing program manager for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, said that 60,000 pounds of Asian carp were harvested from the spillway in December.
"We went into it viewing it as really a no-lose situation, so it would be hard for it to be a failure," Maher said. "We would have liked to have taken 20 times as many fish out, but we don't have the market for it.
"It is what it is. It's 30 less tons of those fish in the Kaskaskia River, so from that perspective, I would say it's a success. It's still naive to think that's going to take care of the problem with those fish, but it's certainly a step in the right direction."
The trial contract ran for three weeks last month, ending on Dec. 31. The two commercial crews, headed by Carlyle natives Chad Isaak and Joe Curry, removed the fish by stringing gill and trammel nets from bank to bank along the narrow spillway.
Isaak and his crew herded the Asian carp into the nets with a johnboat, much like a rancher herds cattle into a pen. Isaak -- who only fished four days during the period -- hauled the fish to a processor in Pike County, where he received 10 cents a pound.
"It's entirely driven by the market," Maher said. "If there were more of a market, he would have spent a lot more of that three-week period down there fishing."
State and local officials are trying to curb the spread of Asian carp before they reach Carlyle Lake. The fish -- who are voracious eaters, bullying food away from native fish -- entered the Kaskaskia River from the Mississippi near Evansville and have made it all the way north to Carlyle.
The only thing keeping them out of Illinois' largest man-made lake is the dam.
"It's a significant amount of fish, but it's probably a very small drop in a very large bucket where the population of the fish are concerned," Maher said. "If that were an isolated area down there where fish couldn't get back in there and couldn't recolonize after he caught them, you'd notice taking 60,000 pounds out of that small of an area.
"The problem is the Kaskaskia River has so many in it, as does the Mississippi River where it empties into. There's just no end in sight. It's absolutely mind-boggling how many of those fish are out there."
Maher said the DNR would be willing to offer more commercial fishing contracts for the spillway, provided the market improves and river conditions are favorable.
"We certainly wouldn't be opposed to it," Maher said. "Everything has to line up. You have to have the buyer willing to take the fish. You have to have the conditions to catch fish, and they all have to come together as well. "It's a win-win situation, I think it was pretty well-received from the local anglers over there. I think everybody recognizes this is a big problem and wants to see something done about it."

[crappiedoc]

Here in "the land of OZ" our comm fisherman are 'awarded' rough fish contracts. The buffaloe's are sold by them for market price minus 10%, and the state pays them .30-.40/# for carp. One of them worked a buffaloe infested lake for 10yrs taking over 3 million pounds out last I heard. He was forced to take the carp contracts or lose the buffaloe. At one lake the pile was over 10 acres 40 feet high. I know one thing for sure, he's got BRAND new boats/trucks yearly and said at the end of the buffaloe contract he'd retire a multi-millionaire. Someone's get paid off at .10/# IMHO and it's not the comm fisherman.

[Bronson]

Fuel for thought.
Carp are growing prolifically because the food is there. Let me ask you this. If the food is there, why aren't the native species growing like mad? I mean, if the carp is eating all teh food the naitve fish eat, why haven't teh native fish been eating it?

The native species are starting to show they are in trouble because they are not competing with Asian carp, their food is. The bottom of the food chain feeds on plankton, and the baitfish feed on them and the bigger fish feed on them and it goes on and on. You knock out your baitfish, our gamefish will soon follow. Again, the gamefish are not directly feeding on plankton.

Some have reported catching bigger catfish the last few years. This is probably because they can feed on bigger and now more plentiful fish like the Asian carp. There are loads of 1 pounders swimming around. This will probably be a short term windfall.

I have spoken to commercial fishermen who told me, they thought the problem was much worse than wildlife agencies have made it known. They are worried about their livelyhood.

Just an idea, I know shocking is supposed to drive them wild but I can't help but wonder if they couldn't shock and kill as many as they can on a continuous basis while saving as many gamefish as possible. I have yet to hear a real solution to this problem.

I don't like to panic but I think it has already gotten beyond being a serious problem. With no real solution, it could be just a matter of a very short time before we could lose a lot of our great fisheries.

[das speck hunter]

OK, look, I live on the Illinois river. We have Asian Carp, boat loads of them. Several shows have been shot on the Illinois River about the Carp. They have not affected the fishing on the river. I talk to guys all the time who regularly fish teh river, only thing they worry about is one jumping into the boat. I have heard rumors that there are a few commerical operations harvesting the Carp to sell as food. Who is buying the food is unclear, economically challenged and some say the Chinese thorugh out the US. Like China-town in Chicago, and pet food producers.

As with all changes people tend to think tehy are bad and over react before they have the facts. At one time people believed the world was flat and that you would fall off if you traveled too far. Still have people who belive ethanol is a bad thing. The only thing bad about ethanol is if your fuel system doesnt have gaskets/hoses/seals designed to handle it. What doesn't help is "news" media reports what people want to hear, so tehy watch their news show. It only feeds the propaganda called a lie.

Hate to tell ya but corn based ethanol is bad all around. Not only for the engines but also grocery prices. Outside of corn country its not helping anyone pockets.

[das speck hunter]

Edited:

I did some more research, appears "Asian" Carp have been in the US since the 1800's. They are used in Florida to control the growth of weeds/algie. They were introduced as a food source, but they are no longer as desireable as int eh past. There are several (4?) varieties of "Asian Carp".

Ours cant spawn thats the cool part about ours. Plus dont forget we have gators alot of them.

[Hanr3]

Hate to tell ya but corn based ethanol is bad all around. Not only for the engines but also grocery prices. Outside of corn country its not helping anyone pockets.

Your thinking is flawed.
Ethanol is Alcohol and is the highest octane rated fuel available. Higher octane fuels burn hotter, cleaner and are the best for engine performance.

Corn is the number 1 produced crop in the world. More corn is spoiled then consumed. We produce more corn than can be consumed.

Research ADM- Archer Danials Midland, corn is used in more than just gas and corn. It has been converted into a bunch of different products that you use everyday, especially food products.

Another case where mass media misleads the american public with incomplete information. They report only what people want to hear, not the truth.

Take the Stabil commercials where they say thier product removes the harmfull deposits left by ethanol fuel- that is a misleading statement. Ethanol doesnt leave deposits, gas leaves deposits called varnish. There is still gas in ethanol blended gas, so technically you can say ethanol gas leaves deposits, however its not the ethanol that leaves the depostis, its the gas in teh ethanol blend.

[Hanr3]

The native species are starting to show they are in trouble because they are not competing with Asian carp, their food is. The bottom of the food chain feeds on plankton, and the baitfish feed on them and the bigger fish feed on them and it goes on and on. You knock out your baitfish, our gamefish will soon follow. Again, the gamefish are not directly feeding on plankton.

Alright let me rephrase, why isn't the baitfish population exploding? If there's enough food to grow massive quanitiites of Carp, big Carp. Why hasn't the baitfish population exploded before the asian carp explosion? Obvisouly the food is there and has been there, otherwise the Carp wouldn't be able to sustain themselves. So, why hasn't the baitfish population exploded? Why aren't we having this converstaion about record numbers of baitfish? Obviously the food is there, so where are all the baitfish? IF they had exploded, then maybe teh Carp wouldn't have the food they need, especially in the size and quanitiy of fish we are seeing?

[crappiedoc]

To bad we can't convert Asian carp into gasoline!!!! Sorry, but ethanol sucks!!! There's hope with other bio fuels or hydro gen, I'd like to see the algal formulations work or the hydrogen fuel cells. At least with hydrogen we won't have to wear our seatbelts cause modern tech says we'll blow up in a crash. We'll never know the truth about what the carp are doing environmentally, their all imported at some time or another. Maybe the bio's can hybridize them to eat zebra mussles, which wouldn't hurt the cormorants feelings I'm sure. All food for thought.

[das speck hunter]

Your thinking is flawed.
Ethanol is Alcohol and is the highest octane rated fuel available. Higher octane fuels burn hotter, cleaner and are the best for engine performance.

Corn is the number 1 produced crop in the world. More corn is spoiled then consumed. We produce more corn than can be consumed.

Whats to pros of CORN based ethanol? Other than more money to corn country? Is it that ethanol in general is poor for modern engine gaskets that get ate by it and thus cant be used in any real world situation, so in order to use it we have to either all buy new cars and outboards.......on a side note I would love 1 of the multifuel military ETECs but at 9,000 its a bit steep, or a new pick up, but ill use what i got till it breaks down 3 times. Or is it that in order to turn CORN into ethanol you us more energy to make it than is needed by other crops like sugar cane which is a cheaper alternative cause sugar is easily turned into alcohol. Not that Im a proponent of that either cause it eats gaskets still. Maybe instaed of using a food source for fuel we try waste products. And if you believe that the ethanol and food prices were not tied directly together why did Coca Cola and Pepsi deem it cheaper to make products with real SUGAR instead of HFCS??? And why are we not phasing ethanol in to the market without damaging the current vehicles we have so we have to buy new stuff and we continue to work with what we have. Maybe cause the economy is stagnant and new car sales would help.

As for the carp they have no challenger at the top of the chain when they are full grown other than man. Instead of trying to get rid of them all once and done. I wonder if stationary gill nets mesh size big enough to catch only the breeders would eliminate stunt their spread teamed with an aggressive stocking of the natural predetors ie the bass, crappie and cats would eleminate the yearling and fry carp.