Asian Carp In America
Oscar/Zhuo Chen
Dr. Carolyn Keiffer
BIO-121 MA
October 6, 2014
Asian Carp
Asian carp is a catchall name for four different carp species, silver, bighead, grass, and black carp (Asian Carp Organization). As we can know from its name, the origin of Asian carp is Asia, and mostly China. The reason of why I choose Asian carp as an invasive species is because Asian carp has totally different treatment in China and America. As a Chinese, I was informed since I was very young that Asian carp is good for both the environment and our health. It contains a lot of proteins and nutrition which can benefit our brain. However, in America, people think it is a disaster to have Asian carp in America.
As a traditional species in China, how did Asian
carp across the Pacific Ocean and finally arrive in America? In the 70s last century, American government imported Asian carp to decontaminate water because Asian carp eat the tiny zooplankton and phytoplankton on the bottom of the lake (Bloch 2). However, because of several floods happened in Mississippi River, Asian carp got the chance to get away and spread. Nowadays, people can find Asian carp almost everywhere in America, and Asian carp has already threatened the Great Lakes. According to the government of National Park Service, “experts are worried that if these fish get into the Great Lakes, they may negatively affect the area 's $7 billion/year fishing industry. By out-competing native fish species for food and habitat, carp may reduce the populations of native fish that are so important to fishermen.”(National Park Service 1)
There are a number of Medias have announced that Asian carp is a big issue to America, and they all used the same word “disaster.” So what problems did Asian carp cause? First of all, this invasive species has no natural enemy in America, so the spread speed of Asian carp is extremely fast. Second, they can eat up to 40% of its body weight in plants every day. Therefore, native fish do not have enough food for them to survive and they are facing extinction. Finally, the ecosystem become unbalanced because the amount of organisms are lower in lakes and rivers (National Park Service 1).
In order to solve the over-spreading of Asian carp, American government has made certain decisions. There is a dam being built to prevent Asian carp from moving up river. A lot of scientists are also studying on how to prevent the further spread of this species. Ohio government also calls for preventing the Asian carp from getting into Lake Erie, because there are four connection points between Lake Erie and Ohio River, where the Asian carp has been found (Bloch 5).
For normal citizens in America, what can we do to help lowering the amount of Asian carp? The answer is eat more. People in China know many ways of cooking delicious carp dishes, and carp is an important dish on family’s table. Although Chinese and American have different eating habit, the government should make more people eat it by improving the benefits of Asian carp. What is more, companies in America can progress the Asian carp to different products and sell it to other countries like China.
References
Asian Carp Organization. Asian Carp Management. ACO, 2005. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.
Bloch, Jim. “Ohio plans to stop Asian carp from reaching Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair.” The Voice.
6 Sep. 2014. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.
National Park Service. Mississippi. NPS, n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.
Dr. Carolyn Keiffer
BIO-121 MA
October 6, 2014
Asian Carp
Asian carp is a catchall name for four different carp species, silver, bighead, grass, and black carp (Asian Carp Organization). As we can know from its name, the origin of Asian carp is Asia, and mostly China. The reason of why I choose Asian carp as an invasive species is because Asian carp has totally different treatment in China and America. As a Chinese, I was informed since I was very young that Asian carp is good for both the environment and our health. It contains a lot of proteins and nutrition which can benefit our brain. However, in America, people think it is a disaster to have Asian carp in America.
As a traditional species in China, how did Asian
carp across the Pacific Ocean and finally arrive in America? In the 70s last century, American government imported Asian carp to decontaminate water because Asian carp eat the tiny zooplankton and phytoplankton on the bottom of the lake (Bloch 2). However, because of several floods happened in Mississippi River, Asian carp got the chance to get away and spread. Nowadays, people can find Asian carp almost everywhere in America, and Asian carp has already threatened the Great Lakes. According to the government of National Park Service, “experts are worried that if these fish get into the Great Lakes, they may negatively affect the area 's $7 billion/year fishing industry. By out-competing native fish species for food and habitat, carp may reduce the populations of native fish that are so important to fishermen.”(National Park Service 1)
There are a number of Medias have announced that Asian carp is a big issue to America, and they all used the same word “disaster.” So what problems did Asian carp cause? First of all, this invasive species has no natural enemy in America, so the spread speed of Asian carp is extremely fast. Second, they can eat up to 40% of its body weight in plants every day. Therefore, native fish do not have enough food for them to survive and they are facing extinction. Finally, the ecosystem become unbalanced because the amount of organisms are lower in lakes and rivers (National Park Service 1).
In order to solve the over-spreading of Asian carp, American government has made certain decisions. There is a dam being built to prevent Asian carp from moving up river. A lot of scientists are also studying on how to prevent the further spread of this species. Ohio government also calls for preventing the Asian carp from getting into Lake Erie, because there are four connection points between Lake Erie and Ohio River, where the Asian carp has been found (Bloch 5).
For normal citizens in America, what can we do to help lowering the amount of Asian carp? The answer is eat more. People in China know many ways of cooking delicious carp dishes, and carp is an important dish on family’s table. Although Chinese and American have different eating habit, the government should make more people eat it by improving the benefits of Asian carp. What is more, companies in America can progress the Asian carp to different products and sell it to other countries like China.
References
Asian Carp Organization. Asian Carp Management. ACO, 2005. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.
Bloch, Jim. “Ohio plans to stop Asian carp from reaching Lake Erie, Lake St. Clair.” The Voice.
6 Sep. 2014. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.
National Park Service. Mississippi. NPS, n.d. Web. 4 Oct. 2014.