Like zebra mussels, discussed Tuesday in Part I of this series, Asian carp are also threatening Kansas water bodies.
There are three types of Asian carp: bighead, black and silver. Silver carp also are known as “jumping fish” that jump out of the water several feet in the air when disturbed by boaters or other loud noises. The carp were introduced into the United States when they were imported from Asia in the 1970s for aquaculture purposes. Since then, the carp have escaped from aquaculture facilities and are now living in midwestern rivers and streams. They have been found in the Kansas, Missouri, Big Blue and Wakarusa Rivers and Browning Oxbow, according to the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks’ Web site. Bighead and silver carp have a scaleless head and their body scales are very small. Adult carp can get up to 60 pounds in weight and four feet in length. Bighead and silver carp have low-set eyes and a large upturned mouth without barbells. Black carp have large scales with a blackish brown body.
The carp, because they are not native to the area, pose a danger to native aquatic life and humans who use those bodies of water, said Jason Goeckler, of the Emporia office of Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.
“Silver carp and other invasive species affect our native species in a bad way, and it’s getting worse,” Bill Dance, a nationally known fisherman says in a video.
Dance said the carp reproduce rapidly and often grow too large in less than a year for native fish to feed on them.
The silver carp pose a danger to humans because they jump.
“There have been reports of many injuries on the Illinois River,” Goeckler said. “If you imagine a 60-pound fish jumping out of the water ... it’s pretty spooky. It’s okay to see fish swimming in the water but when they are flying out of the water at your face, it’s a little disturbing.”
The carp pose a danger to other aquatic life because of competition for food. The carp grow quickly and eat up to 40 percent of their body weight each day. The carp deplete plankton and native snails and mussels.
“These fish don’t belong here,” Goeckler said. “They are just now starting to move into our stretch of the river. The worst is yet to come.”
The carp are often spread to other water bodies accidentally because they look like native bait fish. To help prevent the spread of the fish and any species that shouldn’t be in the water, three simple steps can be taken, Goeckler said. The steps are clean, drain and dry.
“All infestations could be prevented if they (boaters and anglers) did clean, drain, dry,” Goeckler said.
The Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks encourages people to clean their equipment by rinsing equipment with high-pressure and/or hot water, especially if equipment or boats have been in the water for more than a day. The second step is to let boats and equipment dry for five days before moving to another body of water. Also, water from boats, motors, live wells, bilges and bait containers should be thoroughly drained and the equipment dried.
Also, fish should not be moved from one body of water to another, Goeckler said.
F For more information on Asian carp and other evasive species in Kansas waterways, go to www.kdwp.state.ks.us and follow the fishing link. From the fishing link, click on aquatic nuisance species. Bill Dance’s video on Asian carp can be seen on the web site as well.
Comments
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Posted by ralpheatsbeef (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 9:42 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Two questions:
1 - Who let them loose?
2 - Are they in jail?
Okay. Three questions ....
3 - Why not?
Posted by madpoet (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 12:50 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wonder if they're good eating? I'm thinking a 60 pound fish would feed a family for a couple of days. With the economy in the state it is, I think we could catch and eat the darn things. If I remember right, it was up around Chicago or somewhere they were having problems with either racoons or possums. They were getting into trash and being destructive. Once word got out that they were good eating, no more problem. ha ha.
Posted by Carptracker (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 8:06 a.m. (Suggest removal)
They are GREAT eating. They do not taste at all like our "native" carp (no such thing, actually- all carps are from Asia or eastern Europe, including the common carp that crackinsack thinks is native. Common carp is probably the most damaging invasive fish in the USA, but it has been here so long that many people think it is native.) The problems come with the name (carp), the bones in the filet, and the fact that the outside of these fish truly does not smell very good. The meat is delicious and white, and on a large fish (a large one in Kansas would be about 15 pounds, but much larger ones exist) the bones in the filet are about 4" long, which makes them quite easy to negotiate. Frankly, they are much better eating than catfish. For more on eating these fish, see http://mdc.mo.gov/conmag/2004/07/20.htm
Posted by neighbor (anonymous) on November 21, 2008 at 8:30 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Yet another example of what happens when people decide to introduce foreign species. We now have diamond back rattle snakes, wild hogs, exotic deer species etc in Kansas because people are wanting to sell hunts to non-resident hunters in an effort to commercialize wildlife here.
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