Asian Carp are a nuisance and danger to anyone that wants to use the waterways in the Mississippi Basins. They are one of the top most invasive species on the earth. In some places 9 out of 10 fish are Asian carp. They are slowly destroying the existing fish population in the rivers they move into. To solve this problem, more people have to know about it. And so I will tell you about the Asian carp.
The Asian carp were first introduced into the US by Southern fish farmers in the 1970’s. They used them to clean out the ponds they used to raise catfish. Flooding allowed them to escape into the surrounding waterways. Although they are called Asian carp, they are really a crossbreed between bighead and silver carp.
There are many dangers that the Asian carp produce in their rapid expansion. One danger in Asian carp comes in the
fact that when a boat motor reaches a certain frequency they get frightened and jump out of the water sometimes
hitting boaters. It doesn’t seem that bad until you realize that they can grow up to be 150 lbs. They can also produce about 2 million eggs per year after they reach maturity. There are also economic dangers to the Asian carp. If the Asian carp were to get into the Great lakes, the $7 billion fishing industry would come crashing down as the carp
destroy the existing fish populations.
Many measures are being taken to stop the advance of the Asian carp. Electric barriers are being set up to help stop. Another popular measure to slow the Asian carp is exceedingly simple. Eat them. Over 500 tons of carp are pulled from American rivers each year. Although most of it is packaged and exported to China, some of it is eaten locally. There are many other measures being tested everywhere in the Mississipi Basin.
Overall the Asian carp situation is only getting worse every second we wait to fix it. This problem requires immediate attention. What more is there about the Asian Carp? Who is trying to stop them? What can you do? That is for you to find out.