Introduction Today I will be talking about the a group of fish called the Asian Carps. The word “Asian carps” includes four species: Bighead, Silver, Grass and Black Carp. The species of Asian carps cause harm when they are introduced to new environments. Bighead Carp and Silver Carp are the species that have spread the most aggressively and can be considered one of the greatest threats to the Great Lakes. Grass carp can alter the food webs of a new environment by altering the communities of plants, invertebrates, and fish.
Impact Asian carps are fast-growing, aggressive and adaptable fish that are outcompeting native fish species for food and habitat in much of the mid-section of the United States. Asian carp were introduced into Southern fish farm ponds in the 1970s and quickly spread across the United States. They are now on the verge of invading the Great Lakes and Canada. Asian carps prefer cool to moderate water temperatures, like those found near the shores of the Great Lakes therefor that was one of the reasons why they chose to move upward toward the great lakes.. If Asian carps become established in Ontario waters, they could potentially eat the food supply that our native fish depend on and crowd them out of their habitat.
Origins
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Asian carp was imported and introduced into the U.S to filter pond water in fish farms in Arkansas. Flooding allowed them to escape and establish reproducing populations in the wild by the early 1980s furthermore allowing them to increase the population very dangerously. At present, bighead carp have been found in the open waters of 23 states and silver carp in 17 states. Asian carp represent over 97% of the biomass in portions of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers and are swiftly spreading northward up the Illinois River in the direction of the Great
On July 9, 2011, a major fish kill (fish kill I) was observed by the Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality (OKDEQ) in the Red River, near Ketchum’s Bluff, Oklahoma. The Red River, with headwaters in the Texas panhandle, flows for 917 kilometers, between the borders of Oklahoma (OK) and Texas (TX), before emptying into the Mississippi River. During this fish kill, hundreds of large bottom feeder fish (i.e., catfish and buffalo) were observed as either dead, struggling, or actively dying. Nearly two months later, on September 14, 2011, another fish kill (fish kill II) occurred further south along the Red River, approximately 130 km downstream from Ketchum’s Bluff near Lake Texhoma. Again, it was observed that hundreds of only the large bottom feeder fish were affected by an unknown toxin(s). OKDEQ believed that the two fish kills were related, with the unknown toxicant(s) traveling further downstream from the first fish kill (July 9, 2011), but causing fish mortality 60 days later downstream. The following year, on June 13, 2012, another fish kill (fish kill III) occurred, again near the area of Ketchum’s Bluff and Red Creek confluence. And a final fish kill (fish kill IV) occurred on January 31, 2013, in the same watershed, near Red River and Beaver Creek confluence. Environmental samples (i.e., water, sediment, and fish) were collected, by OKDEQ and the United States Envi...
Since three-forth of the world is composed of bodies of water, it’s natural that a great number of people rely on fishing for their livelyhood or just for their recreation needs. There are numerous of fish species swimming under the lakes, seas, ponds, and rivers. Most anglers consider fishing as the delight in their purpose-driven life, a sport, as they say.
This vegetation also provides much cover for fish. The aquatic plants provide a great source of food supply and act as a nursery for young fish (“Native” par. 5). Vegetation serves many purposes in fish habitat; besides keeping fish safe. It also helps keep the lakes clean. Aquatic plants cycle the water and help absorb pollutants. Another great benefit of these aquatic plants are that they help hold sediment and the banks of the lakes in place while providing oxygen into the water (“Invasive” par. 7-8). Unfortunately invasive species are destroying such vegetation. The Common Carp or “Cyprinus carpio” is one such fish that is causing great damages to lakes all around the world.
In the early 1900s people from Italy started to arrive on ship. They first arrived in Detroit, Michigan and later immigrated to Gloucester, to fish like they did back in the old country. Children, as young as ten years old went fishing to make a living for their family. When they first came the fishing industry was booming. There was no limit to how long you could fish or how much you could catch. Many men went fishing for weeks at a time. When Italian fishermen came upon the Atlantic off what is now Cape Cod, the waters churned with schools of fish. When they came nearly 800 of them in Boston and Gloucester combined became fishermen. In New England, cod was king. Enriched by a West Indies trade of fish for molasses, boat owners were referred to as the "codfish aristocracy. Sadly in the late 1990s the fishing industry went downhill and changed for the worst. (.)
In 1831, Asian carp were brought over as a delicacy. Asian carp are originally from Asia (Barbara A. Somervill 13). They were imported by catfish farmers in 1963 for federal research on controlling aquatic vegetation. In 1966, the first Asian carp had escaped into Arkansas waters. By 1970, grass carp we're being stocked in Arkansas waters to help with over vegetation. In 1972, big head carp were brought in the United States by a fish farmer in Arkansas to improve his water quality and fish production. In 1973, silver carp were introduced for phytoplankton control (Watershed Council 1). Over time, they were brought over for different reasons and made their way into many of the United States waters. The federal government had transported the invasive species to help the waters but, they did not realize the bad effects that the fish would have on the future environment. People need to find a way to stop them before it’s too late. Their rapid breeding has had a great toll on the environment and is still affecting it today. Over population can destroy the environment
Eurasian milfoil or Myriophyllum spicatum is an aquatic invasive plant that can be found throughout the Chicagoland area and in surrounding bodies of water. This plant can be a hindrance to swimming, boating, and fishing because of their thick, tangled stems and mats of vegetation. According to the Minnesota Sea Grant, Eurasian milfoil also overcrowd a body of water, which leaves little room for the plants native to the Great Lakes. One prediction is that if the Eurasian milfoil is not stopped, a reduction of biodiversity may result in Chicago and the areas surrounding it. If this was to occur, the ecosystems of the Midwest region would be significantly impacted in a negative way.
... North America, steelheads are found in Pacific Ocean drainage from southern California through Alaska. In Oregon they are found throughout the Columbia River. The major factor causing steelhead population decline is freshwater habitat loss and degradation. This has resulted from three main factors: inadequate stream flows, blocked access to historic spawning and rearing areas due to dams, and human activities that discharge sediment and debris into waterways.
In The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister tells how a beautiful, extraordinary, yet, self-centered blue fish learns that being beautiful isn’t the key to happiness. The blue fish came to find this lesson when he lost his friends. Pfister takes a simple ocean setting and explores the consequences of an individual’s arrogance toward their peers, the process of humbling of oneself, and the tremendous reward one feels when they learn to share. The story achieves these morals by the author’s use of detailed imager and also, the influence of minor characters on the antihero in order to reveal to the audience the true thematic message; selfish actions bring true happiness.
Pinkish in color, with spots on their eight fins and back, thin long body with an average weight of 23 kg and length up to 76 cm, and a distinct back fin called the adipose fin. They are saltwater fish which spawns in fresh water, travelling over 20,000 kilometers in the ocean with speeds of up to 50 km per hour. They can jump more than four meters to climb waterfalls and any obstacles they encounter in the water. The Northwest Salmon is one miraculous fish. However, Northwest Salmon are now on the verge of being protected under the Endangered Species Act due to their dramatic decline in their population in the Northwest region of the United States. Their declines in numbers are causing great problems for their surrounding ecosystem, those that rely on the salmon as a food source, and the fishing industry. All of which humans are contributing to all these by overfishing, either commercial or for sport, and the construction of dams on major rivers. Then with the attempt to fix this problem, fisheries, or farms for fish, end up genetically changing the fish and making them more vulnerable to predator fish. Predator fish that are nonindigenous to the rivers the salmon swim in. Eating the salmon’s food or in most cases, eating the salmon themselves. If all of these acts continue at full force, I predict that the Northwest Salmon will not be naturally running up and down our American rivers within the next 50 years if not everyone is totally aware of their situation.
British Columbia is the fourth largest aquaculture producer in the world. The province and everywhere else that loves seafood relies on the production of aquaculture. However, many do not know what they get when the glory of farming fish comes with. Salmon is one the most common fish and British Columbia wanted to make sure that who ever wanted it could get tons of it. While global warming has been driving wild salmon stocks up north, British Columbia came up with their own solution, Aquaculture. It was the perfect thing due to the fact, British Columbia has 20,000km of coastlines and 25,000 lakes and many rives and streams to raise fish. This became an advantage to fish farmers and aquaculture heads because the plentiful water allowed them to raise wish in any body of water. The economic benefits came pouring in as fish farmer could grow many fish all year round and have control of it. The salmon in these farms are raised in pens, just like you would see animals on a farm on land. B.C’s fairly clean waters, sparse population and accessibility to roads makes it well suitable for the fish to be raised from hatchlings to harvest. The net pens that held the salmon year round were limited to small spaces, developing some major issues in the ocean’s health and human health. Many have blamed farmed salmon for the sea lice. Sea lice have been depleting lives of many wild salmon as farmed salmon are allowed to escape from their nets into the ocean. Allowing the possible spread of sea lice. Sea lice are crustacean parasites that attach onto both farmed and wild salmon. These parasites do not kill the fish, however they drain the resources the fish need to survive and decrease their ability of swimming. The sea lice also create open abrasio...
Common Carp, German Carp, European Carp (Cyprinus Carpio). " Common Carp: Invasive Species: Minnesota DNR. DNR, Feb.-Mar. 2017 -. 2013. The. Web.
Slowly, as the trends continue, we will inevitably see many fish species start to disappear. In fact, the ill-treatment of species on the Canadian border has already devastated a large species, the cod. In the 1950s the Newfoundland Grand Banks was home to a plentitude of cod; early European explorers said,”that if you lowered a basket into the water, cod will fill it to the brim.” It supplied the locals with an item of trade and a source of food.
There’s No Real Good Guy In the movie, “Blackfish” we are exposed to the fact that the way orcas are treated at SeaWorld is worse than we are lead to believe. We see how they are forced to swim in tiny pools and how they can only be fed if they preform well. After seeing this it makes you feel like the only way to help these poor creatures is to jump on the animal activist wagon and to free all the whales like in “Free Willy”. But is that really the right way to go?
Freshwater fish and saltwater fish are very similar in a lot of ways, but also have differences between them so you can tell them apart. Marine water (saltwater) equals over 96 percent of the water on Earth and over 70 percent of Earth’s total surface. Freshwater is less than four percent of Earth’s total water and is about one percent of Earth’s surface (Freshwater Fish). Interestingly a few species of fish can live in either freshwater or saltwater, but for the majority, they must live in a specific environment. All species of fish used to live in a saltwater environment until certain geological events (earthquakes, volcanic activity, etc.) occurred, creating conditions that isolated groups of fish. The new habitats, included freshwater, and new food sources caused fish to either adapt, or to die (Lohrey).
You also can consider marshmallows, cheese, corn and so on as baits simply because they can entice stocked trout to bite. But these untraditional baits really don't appeal with a native trout which appears to have more discriminating tastes.