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Had not been fishing in a few years and found the jumping silver carp at Smithville spillway disconcerting. There were so many of them you snag one on every cast. Is there any way to reduce there numbers? I just gave up and left and frankly I thought it was kind of gross.
Perhaps supporting commercial fishing would help.
"Asian carp fishermen hook new markets"
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/local/2015/03/14/asian-carp-catching-area-businesses/70297264/
The only proven way to reduce the population of any fish species is through habitat destruction or overfishing. Commercial fishing is definitely a tool but unfortunately the markets aren't quite there yet for the demand to outpace the supply. Most commercial fishing takes place on the big rivers too. I'm hopeful we will see the numbers of Asian carp decline to a more manageable level through natural processes. Many times exotic species will thrive initially but then die back to something more manageable. There is also research being done on producing males that only produce more males. These so called daughter-less fish may be the next best hope. Unfortunately these fish have populated a large portion of the Missouri and Mississippi river basins. Getting rid of them will not be an easy task.
No kidding! They have ruined all the Lakes down my way. Only relief we have is the annual die off due to the Virus. Heard they were cultivating &/or using the virus in Australia. Maybe one day we'll get it here.
Commercial fishing is helping, just need the price to be higher. Eat More Carp!
Thanks for the reply!
Viruses have a nasty habit of mutating ie: swine flu.
It could be worth the risk depending on how much damage they are doing.
I've had some experience with carp die-offs due to viruses. The common carp is the most susceptible. Australia was doing the definitive work on daughter-less carp but decided using the Koi Herpes virus (KHV) to combat the common carp was the best way to go. At Blue Springs Lake in KC we had a KHV kill in 2012. We have seen a 75% reduction in common carp as a result. Australia has been developing KHV "carrier" carp for 3 years and will be stocking them this year. They have been doing some major PR campaigns to educate the public on the reasons why they are choosing this path. They've actually called me several times for information on my experiences with a massive carp kill. KHV was first identified in 1996 and has remained a very stable virus. No evidence of mutation has been observed. As biologists, we are faced with a tough choice. Is the risk of using a virus as a control agent for common carp worth the possibility of it mutating? Some of us believe it is while others are more concerned about mutation. I am seeing the bass population at Blue Springs Lake respond well to fewer carp. The carp usually come to the banks to spawn just after the bass lay their eggs and I believe they disrupt the hatch. The year after the kill I saw huge schools of bass fry where there had been few and far between the year before. Fewer exotics is always a good thing in my opinion.
AMEN, maybe we'll have it available soon
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Well this has gotten really interesting. I'm not the kind of of person that opposes genetically modified foods or introducing a virus to control non indigenous species. Life involves risks we may not like it but pretending that letting evolution to it's own devices is an option that has come and gone. Whether we like or not we are now in the phase of managing nature not struggling to survive in it.
In country that has millions of people who oppose vaccinations it seems likely that taking the biologists advise will in the case of introducing viruses meet with some resistance. Perhaps a literature review is in order to prepare to support the scientific point of view is something concerned citizens need to do.
Carp are a major game fish in Europe, have you had any comments from scientists in Europe concerning the Australian experiment?
I have not seen any negative comments from European scientists regarding the Australia plan. Yes common carp are a major sportfish in England especially. KHV was first identified in England and it caused quite the uproar.
I actually had a summer volunteer from England one summer and he helped me sample carp following our fish kill event. It was funny that he had never fished for carp in England and these were the first he'd handled. He fished for trout exclusively back home. I am not opposed to using the virus to combat the carp. But we will probably be taking a "wait and see" approach and monitor Australia's efforts to see if there are any unintended collateral damage. With KHV, the carp that aren't killed become carriers of the virus. The virus is believed to be 100% lethal to fry and yearling fish. I will continue to monitor the carp population at Blue Springs looking for signs that they are no longer able to successfully reproduce meaning the carp will eventually completely die off with age. I firmly believe one of the best things we can do for our reservoirs is eliminate the carp, but a major fish kill is a mess. I estimated we had close to 30,000 carp die in Blue Springs which is 720 acres. And while that was quite the mess, imagine 10x that many at Smithville Lake! It's a be careful what you wish for scenario! I do believe we will see more of these fish kills as birds and anglers move the virus around. We had a kill in a small lake in Platte County a couple years before Blue Springs. I'm certain it was KHV as well. The finger lakes in New York have had multiple fish kills due to KHV as the virus moved downstream in the chain of lakes. So we will probably see it more often, especially in lakes where people feed the carp at marinas. All that wallowing all over each other to get a morsel just helps spread the disease once it's in a system.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.