Great lakes fishery will soon be over

[Kevin23]

The illegal introduction/stocking of fish is something the Colorado DOW is also raising concern about here.  Our issue is not non-native species introduction, but anglers illegally stocking pike, bass and walleye into reservoirs where these species were not intended to exist.   The unfortunate result is these apex predators are devastating the delicate balance of the reservoir’s ecosystem, in addition eating all the trout.  As a transplanted mid westerner, I love fishing for pike, walleye and other game fish, but the knuckle heads who are engaging in this behavior are jeopardizing some of our most pristine fisheries here in Colorado.  Wyoming addressed this problem head on. In a recent court case, a Colorado man was fined $100,000 for illegally introducing a Rusty crayfish.  As stated by CDOW, this type of fine demonstrates the seriousness of the crime.  Wyoming is sending a clear message to would-be violators. As a sportsman I support strong sanctions against these jerks.  Our DOW spends a great deal of money providing and managing a diverse fishery that aims to meet the needs of all anglers, unfortunately the illegal stocking is a crime that hurts all of us and our fisheries.   

I didnt realize the great lakes were in Colorado and Wyoming.

[dkfry]

There's a name I haven't heard in a while... they were going to destroy all fisheries too at one point.

I watched the whole documentary on the snakeheads (national geographic channel) I'm not as familier with the asian carp. On the show they had a bunch of snakeheads in a tank which was covered well. Went home for the night and in the morning the tank had like one snakehead left. The things can live out of water a long time and walk (shimmy) on land. They are a pretty crazy and aggressive fish. Have some big teeth too.

The snakeheads were not left to get as out of hand like the asian carp. It started by a couple snakeheads being put into a swamp/pnd by one guy. Snakeheads popped up here and there and the guy turned himself in. They poisoned the pond to kill the snakeheads and have been monitoring the surrounding lakes and rivers.

[Irish Jigger]

There are snakeheads in the Potomac river system, and In Fisherman did a show on fishing for them in florida. Thier numbers are still nowhere near that of these carp, and the ammount they eat daily is nowhere near what these carp do. As an apex predator and the way they live is very much like pike and musky and I would think you would see more of a decline in the population of the fish they are in direct competition with for food than a complete decimation of an ecosystem, unlike these carp that are simply heards of cattle grazing on the most important link in the food chain. Figure a 20lb carp can eat 8lbs of plankton a day, A school of 10 in that year class will eat 80lbs a day, now consider how many small fish, insects and such 80lbs of food  a day would feed. There had to be a couple hundred fish in that picture and they're still barely making a dent in the population. It's not a pretty picture.

[JokersWild]

for you who dont want non-native species to be allowed to be raised then i hope you dont salmon fish the great lakes or shoot pheasants.

[TIBS]

for you who dont want non-native species to be allowed to be raised then i hope you dont salmon fish the great lakes or shoot pheasants.

Good point there JokersWild, however, with the salmon I would argue they are at least native to this hemisphere.  Both of those species have been wildly popular with the outdoor crowd so they get a free pass.  If you want to argue that point, then a bunch of inland lakes stocked with walleyes, sauger or muskies (lakes that don't have a native population) or Brown trout.... the list goes on and on with all the non-natives the DNR has put into lakes to expand opportunities, the question should always be when a non-native is being mulled over for use of any kind is if it has the potential to damage the ecosystem, if yes, than keep it out for all purposes. 

My biggest concern is as soon as the Carp get here, were gonna see another crash in the Yellow Perch population in Lake Michigan, no one really seems to know what happened to them for sure 10 years ago when they all but disappeared, but it seems to have been blamed on a combination of over-fishing and competition for food (thanks Zebra Mussel) of which the perch seem to be losing the battle.  The Carp will be another tipping point against them.  I believe that the perch will be the first victims of this invasion, because they're already stressed.

[littlesturgeonguy]

http://www.upmag.net/Carp.html

[pocono]

We live in a state of constant change, some for the better and some not.  Usuly in evelution it is for the better.  We have to adjust also, or we never would have left the dark ages which were controled by fear and religon, much like part of the world today, but always a constant change, and in nature it is very true and the best will surive.

[blackbeast]

you guys all get into a panic when you hear invasive spiecies. yes they are not native. yes there are horror stories out there of these carp but you must remember that at one point in time the smelt were invasive. now look at them people are complaining that there is not enoff of them now. could most of us that fish the great lakes go with out them now. or the goby infestation. the dnr said that these will kill out all bait fish in just a few years. its been 15-20 years since they have been introduced and there is still plenty of bait fish out there as far as i know. the other thing the guys from NY are saying is that the gobys are a great bait for monster bass. and i would have to guess that waleyes are feeding on them also being that they like to stock from the bottom in hard bottom where the goby is mostly found. so there are 2 spiece that didn't turn out so bad. granted we havn't found a good use for the ruffie, spiny water flee, zebra muscle, or lampry. but some day im sure someone will. i mean we have found a way to keep the lampry at bay, and have killed millons of them. not to be of darwin or the bible here (cause i do believe in god and the bible) but every one has seen evilution things do evolve and like a previous statment the lake will evolve no matter what happens for the better or worst it is too early to tell yet. and in my personal belife there is no way that one spiecies introduced into the largest (and deepest) bodies of fresh water on this earth is going to kill every other spiecies in there its just not posible. yes the numbers might go down and bag limits might get tighter but to push all spiecies to extinction i personaly think not. but then again this is just my two shinners worth

[TIBS]

you guys all get into a panic when you hear invasive spiecies. yes they are not native. yes there are horror stories out there of these carp but you must remember that at one point in time the smelt were invasive. now look at them people are complaining that there is not enoff of them now.

Smelt did do a lot of damage to the other baitfish native to the great lakes, but it didn't really matter to the lakers, they eat them all the same.

[Crawlerman]

Between global warming and Asian carp will all be dead soon. Go fishing before its to late.

Seriously, I hope they don't cause a big problem, but in most fisheries the problem of over consumption is by man, and I am no anti fisher person, but our take is the last thing we want to blame it on.

I also think its ironic that  government stocks so many non-native species it is pathetic, but if you do it you will get locked up.