Silver Carp

[badflash]

Anyone seen the "Monster Fish" episode on Silver Carp? This is an incredible invasive species that grows to over 60 pounds and is supposed to be good eating. You can run a power boat up the river and they will jump in the boat and you can catch them in nets.

They are filter feeders and plant eaters and breed like crazy. They read 2 pounds the 1st year.

I'm thinking these should be fished commercially. Big asian market for them.
[video:2j4zam65]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jb8OmEr7VqI [/video:2j4zam65]

[JCO]

So...where are these "WILD AND CRAZZZY KINDA GUYS (FISH) found?

[Big Al]

hi badflash, all the states that are on the great lakes are doing all they can to stop these fish from invading the lakes. they put up electric fencing into the end of the illinious river mouth that leads into the great lakes. they were even talking about poisioning the river just to kill this fish there that bad for the lakes ecosystem. so i cant imagine you be able to get a dnr liscence to sell them. Big Al

[badflash]

You are allowed to catch them, but not raise them. You can keep them alive until they are sold, then they must be killed.

BTW- the fencing failed. Only heavy harvesting will work to control them.

[JCO]

So, where did these fish come from...are they an invasive species from elsewhere in the world? Seems to me that instead of trying to kill them, research should be done to determine what their meat is good for. Surely if nothing else they could be fished commercially to be used for cat food or commercial fish food. Some times the most obvious solution is not even considered. A few 60 lb fish could feed a lot of cats

[badflash]

JCO- Watch the show. It explains it all and is quite entertaining. They were brought over from China in the 1960's. They were brought in for weed control in Arkansas. The government was impressed and started doing reasearch on them in ponds. A huge flood released them into the rivers where they found their way to the Mississippi. They have been breeding and moving north since then.

They are prized as a delecacy in China. The meat is good, but a little bony. The bones are big and easy to pick out. American's don't want to eat anything that has the name "carp" in it. They are probably going to start calling them "Arkansa Fork Tails" or "Mississippi Perch", then folks will have no trouble eating them. This is a tried and true consumer marketing tool. When I was a kid there was a trash fish called simply red fish. No one wanted them. They were renamed "Ocean Perch". The rest is history.

I think commercial fishing is the way to go. One fellow is using a big net and is pulling in 10,000 pounds a day.

[dufflight]

Thats a cool way to go fishing.

[Ironfish]

Hi,
One of the states has signed a contract with China to supply them with 1,000,000 lds of carp / year. I'll see if I can the article.

Ironfish

[Ironfish]

Hi,
I found the article. I was off on the number!

Ironfish

Illinois, China sign deal for Asian carp

UNITED STATES
Wednesday, July 14, 2010, 21:50 (GMT + 9)

Illinois Governor Patrick Quinn signed an agreement Tuesday with China to export up to 30 million pounds of Asian carp a year from the Illinois River.

Officiallly, the state is entering into an agreement with Chinese processing firm Beijing Zhuochen and Big River Fisheries to harvest carp from Illinois rivers. Big River will process, package and ship the fish to Zhuochen for resale in international markets where the fish is a delicacy.

The move is aimed at reducing the population of the invasive species in downstate Illinois.

The deal is "one of the most aggressive efforts to address the Asian carp problem, and is a critical step to long-term economic sustainability and the success of the commercial fishing industry,” Quinn said in a press release.

"We believe the people of China who like to eat Asian carp will find this is the best anywhere on Earth," Quinn said.

for full article go to:
http://fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldnews. ... ndb=1&df=0

[JCO]

Glad to see that someone has actually taken the time to turn adversity into a positive note for America. We need a lot more success stories like this especially since we import over 90% of our Tilapia fillets from China.

Maybe we need to start commercially fishing the canals and waterways from Orlando south for Tilapia and reduce our imports of that fish China.

Just a thought.