Essay --

Asian Carp Essay Arron Kruse 11/28/13 Choosing a spot in the Illinois River to fish or motorboat has become a very difficult task of late. Choose incorrectly and one’s boat might all of a sudden be overtaken by hundreds of fish, several dozen pounds in weight and jumping several feet out of the water. These fish are silver carp, one of several types of Asian Carp now present in many Midwest waterways. Having already overtaken and disrupted the ecosystem and economies of many Midwest waterways, the recent evidence that Asian Carp have infiltrated the Great Lakes watershed poses even more serious implications if a method of stopping them is not found. The bottom feeding common-carp was introduced to the United States in the 1800’s by immigrants who were aghast at the lack of a fish that was so prized in Asia and Europe in America. They are now well-established, but being smaller bottom-feeders they don’t pose as much of a threat as Asian Carp. Asian Carp were imported to the United States in the Early 1970’s to enhance fishing and control algae in sewage treatment areas. They were originally supposed to be held in contained areas, but very soon they escaped the breeding ponds during floods. Since then they have spread outward in a variety of ways. The silver carps ability to jump has sped its rapid expansion because it was able to jump over barriers other fish couldn’t. Adult Asian Carp have no natural predators in the US and are prolific breeders, laying hundreds of thousands of eggs at a time allowing them to spread with almost no interruption. They have also made it through lock systems as boats pas sed through. Before the dangers of Asian Carp were fully understood fishermen would sometimes use baby Asian Carp as bait which fur... ...n just a few were to traverse the lakes. It is clear that Asian Carp have found a new home in the United States. They have been able to spread easily and without almost any barriers throughout the Mississippi watershed, they are swimming on the precipice of the Great Lakes watershed. As of now they appear to be being kept out, but only by the slimmest of barriers. If they were to break through there would be very little chance at stopping them from the damage they would inflict on the wildlife and people who need the lakes for their livelihood. It is no longer just a cause for scientists and environmentalists to take up, this is a cause that threatens everybody in the Mississippi and Great Lakes Watershed. If we don’t act now we may be too late, in fact we may already be too late. Ask not what your watershed can do for you, ask what you can do for your watershed.