Asian Carp
Asian Carp Threat to the Great Lakes
Asian carp are threatening to do a lot of damage in the Great Lakes. Asian carp are an aggressive and adaptable fish that can easily out compete other species for food and habitat. Currently there are carp populations in 23 states and they have completely taken over portions of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers (Antonacci, 2014). They reproduce and spread quickly, making them very dangerous to the aquatic ecosystem. Asian carp are slowly making their way up the Illinois River and will eventually threaten the Great Lakes if we cannot find an effective way to stop them.
Asian carp were imported into the United States in the 1970’s to filter pond water in fish farms. Most of the fish farms were located in Arkansas. In the 1980’s, flooding caused some of the carp to escape from the fish farms (Jerde et al., 2014). At the time, nobody knew that it was a big deal. They made their way into our lakes and rivers and have spread rapidly. Now we have a huge problem with them overpopulating our lakes and rivers causing a number of different problems.
One problem is that they are hurting the health of our native fish species. Carp reproduce rapidly and also consume a lot of food. They can consume up to 20 percent of their body weight per day of organisms called plankton. Plankton plays a huge role in the aquatic environment of our native fish. Carp take away a lot of the food available for native species and also make the waters over crowded. There is no way to keep their population under control so we have to try to contain them in the areas in which they already exist. The problem with doing that is it will create even more overpopulation in the areas in which they are trying to be contained. But it is better than them getting into the Great Lakes system and damaging the environment in the biggest lake system in the United States. If carp make their way into the Great Lakes it would be devastating to the multi-billion dollar
Asian carp are threatening to do a lot of damage in the Great Lakes. Asian carp are an aggressive and adaptable fish that can easily out compete other species for food and habitat. Currently there are carp populations in 23 states and they have completely taken over portions of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers (Antonacci, 2014). They reproduce and spread quickly, making them very dangerous to the aquatic ecosystem. Asian carp are slowly making their way up the Illinois River and will eventually threaten the Great Lakes if we cannot find an effective way to stop them.
Asian carp were imported into the United States in the 1970’s to filter pond water in fish farms. Most of the fish farms were located in Arkansas. In the 1980’s, flooding caused some of the carp to escape from the fish farms (Jerde et al., 2014). At the time, nobody knew that it was a big deal. They made their way into our lakes and rivers and have spread rapidly. Now we have a huge problem with them overpopulating our lakes and rivers causing a number of different problems.
One problem is that they are hurting the health of our native fish species. Carp reproduce rapidly and also consume a lot of food. They can consume up to 20 percent of their body weight per day of organisms called plankton. Plankton plays a huge role in the aquatic environment of our native fish. Carp take away a lot of the food available for native species and also make the waters over crowded. There is no way to keep their population under control so we have to try to contain them in the areas in which they already exist. The problem with doing that is it will create even more overpopulation in the areas in which they are trying to be contained. But it is better than them getting into the Great Lakes system and damaging the environment in the biggest lake system in the United States. If carp make their way into the Great Lakes it would be devastating to the multi-billion dollar