$1,000,000 Reward

[roadwarrior]

http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10387_78792---,00.html?dom=foxnews&src=syn

 

 

[12poundbass]

I hope somebody can come up with something to keep these fish out of the Great Lakes! I don't want to see any d**n fish flying out of the Great Lakes!

[jr231]

As someone who is from Michigan. And spent most of my life there... This is sickening. Just like alot of the invaders.. 

 

I hope they figure out something.. 

[RoLo]

WOW!  I must admit ignorance, I wasn't aware of this threat!

 

 

 

[Tracker22]

And we should pay for it with a tariff on all Chinese imports. I am still convinced that they did this on purpose. Just like they used lead paint on children's toys. They are ruthless.

 

[Scott F]

9 hours ago, 12poundbass said:

I hope somebody can come up with something to keep these fish out of the Great Lakes! I don't want to see any d**n fish flying out of the Great Lakes!

The "flying" carp that are in all the videos are enticed to jump by running a boat in about 2 feet of water. They have no place to go but up. When you run the boat in deeper water, they seldom jump.

One piece of ironic information. Because of another invasive specie in the Great Lakes, the zebra muscle, that filters a lot of the same thing that the carp eat, there may not be enough plankton in the Great Lakes to feed a large amount of the Asian carp.  No one knows for sure, but no one wants to find out.

[TnRiver46]

Pretty cool and that they are offering $1 million but unfortunately I don't think they can be stopped. Maybe kept out of some places but never completely stopped. No better way to find out than put up a big cash reward 

[scaleface]

Ive seen them jump just by paddling a canoe . My niece got hit in the head by one . Unless some scientist can come up with a designer virus that only affects one species , I dont think theres much that can be done to stop them . 

[slonezp]

40 minutes ago, Scott F said:

The "flying" carp that are in all the videos are enticed to jump by running a boat in about 2 feet of water. They have no place to go but up. When you run the boat in deeper water, they seldom jump.

One piece of ironic information. Because of another invasive specie in the Great Lakes, the zebra muscle, that filters a lot of the same thing that the carp eat, there may not be enough plankton in the Great Lakes to feed a large amount of the Asian carp.  No one knows for sure, but no one wants to find out.

Agreed. Not sure they could survive or reproduce under the conditions the Great Lakes present.

49 minutes ago, Tracker22 said:

And we should pay for it with a tariff on all Chinese imports. I am still convinced that they did this on purpose. Just like they used lead paint on children's toys. They are ruthless.

 

Catfish farms and floods is what caused this

[soflabasser]

47 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Pretty cool and that they are offering $1 million but unfortunately I don't think they can be stopped. Maybe kept out of some places but never completely stopped. No better way to find out than put up a big cash reward

 

I agree, it is extremeley unlikely these fish will be completely removed from the environment. These exotics are extremely adaptive and reproduce at a astonishing rate,so not much can be done. On the plus side, these carp are a good sportfish to hunt with bowfishing gear and people can eat them if they wanted to.

 

Another exotic fish that they wont be able to get rid of is the round goby. These fish are everywhere in Lake Michigan and are a common prey to smallmouth bass. In fact, there are many reports of bigger than average smallmouth bass being caught the past couple years since these bass gorge on round gobies( according to many freshwater biologist in the Great Lakes area).

[slonezp]

13 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

Another exotic fish that they wont be able to get rid of is the round goby. These fish are everywhere in Lake Michigan and are a common prey to smallmouth bass. In fact, there are many reports of bigger than average smallmouth bass being caught the past couple years since these bass gorge on round gobies( according to many freshwater biologist in the Great Lakes area).

The zebra mussel and fish eggs are the main forage for goby's. SM bass along with other species of sport/gamefish feed on the goby. The issues with the goby is the reproduction rate and toxicity. They can spawn 4 or more times a year. If you've never fished the Great Lakes, I can guarantee you have no idea how widespread the goby's are or the destruction they can cause. Yes they are a viable food source for bass. That may not necessarily be a good thing. In addition to eating fish eggs, they contaminate the meat of the fish that eat them. All the toxins that are filtered out of the water by the zebra mussels are ingested by the goby's which are then ingested by predators higher in the food chain, then ingested by humans birds and other animals. There are not enough game/sportfish available to have any impact on the goby population. While we may be seeing larger than average size smallmouth, there are also reports that numbers of smallmouth and perch are down.

 

With lowered stocking rates of salmonoids, the alewife population is growing. More bait to choose from=less goby's being eaten=not a good thing.

[12poundbass]

I've lived in Michigan my entire life. I didn't realize until about ten years ago that perch are/were an invasive species to Lake Michigan and I think I saw that one of the salmon or trout were planted in the lake for some reason I don't remember why but they're an invasive species. They turned out ok, but these ugly nasty things would never turn out for the better.

3 minutes ago, slonezp said:

The zebra mussel and fish eggs are the main forage for goby's. SM bass along with other species of sport/gamefish feed on the goby. The issues with the goby is the reproduction rate and toxicity. They can spawn 4 or more times a year. If you've never fished the Great Lakes, I can guarantee you have no idea how widespread the goby's are or the destruction they can cause. Yes they are a viable food source for bass. That may not necessarily be a good thing. In addition to eating fish eggs, they contaminate the meat of the fish that eat them. All the toxins that are filtered out of the water by the zebra mussels are ingested by the goby's which are then ingested by predators higher in the food chain, then ingested by humans birds and other animals. There are not enough game/sportfish available to have any impact on the goby population. While we may be seeing larger than average size smallmouth, there are also reports that numbers of smallmouth and perch are down.

 

With lowered stocking rates of salmonoids, the alewife population is growing. More bait to choose from=less goby's being eaten=not a good thing.

I agree. Gobies and zebra muscles are bad. Gobies=bigger smallmouth zebra muscles= clear water but the effect both are doing is irreversible andunstoppable. 

[slonezp]

4 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

I've lived in Michigan my entire life. I didn't realize until about ten years ago that perch are/were an invasive species to Lake Michigan and I think I saw that one of the salmon or trout were planted in the lake for some reason I don't remember why but they're an invasive species. They turned out ok, but these ugly nasty things would never turn out for the better.

I agree. Gobies and zebra muscles are bad. Gobies=bigger smallmouth zebra muscles= clear water but the effect both are doing is irreversible andunstoppable. 

The salmon were introduced to control the alewife, they also decimated the smelt population which has never recovered. At one point in time maybe 10 years ago there were too many salmon and not enough bait and the salmon became diseased. Now, Due to lack of funding for salmon stocking, the alewife population is rebounding quite well.

 

 

[12poundbass]

I really don't foresee any possible way to keep them out of Lake Michigan unfortunately short of closing the shipping lane from Illinois which will never happen.

[soflabasser]

59 minutes ago, slonezp said:

The zebra mussel and fish eggs are the main forage for goby's. SM bass along with other species of sport/gamefish feed on the goby. The issues with the goby is the reproduction rate and toxicity. They can spawn 4 or more times a year. If you've never fished the Great Lakes, I can guarantee you have no idea how widespread the goby's are or the destruction they can cause. Yes they are a viable food source for bass. That may not necessarily be a good thing. In addition to eating fish eggs, they contaminate the meat of the fish that eat them. All the toxins that are filtered out of the water by the zebra mussels are ingested by the goby's which are then ingested by predators higher in the food chain, then ingested by humans birds and other animals. There are not enough game/sportfish available to have any impact on the goby population. While we may be seeing larger than average size smallmouth, there are also reports that numbers of smallmouth and perch are down.

 

With lowered stocking rates of salmonoids, the alewife population is growing. More bait to choose from=less goby's being eaten=not a good thing.

 

 

Yes I have visited the Great Lakes before and know about the infestation of round gobies. People have tried for years to get rid of them, but have failed, it's very difficult to get rid of these little fish. The zebra mussel is another animal that people have tried to get rid of for years, yet the zebra mussel population has only gotten worse and will probably continue to get worse. The Great Lakes area has some of the best bass fishing in the world right now, which shows that the bass population has to be good. Salmon don't eat gobies( or rarely eat them) from my understanding, so hopefully other predators help control the population of the round gobies.

42 minutes ago, 12poundbass said:

I really don't foresee any possible way to keep them out of Lake Michigan unfortunately short of closing the shipping lane from Illinois which will never happen.

 

I agree with you, fighting these exotics has been very difficult and will continue to be difficult.

 

Maybe introducing a known predator of gobies and other exotics might work, but it can also cause problems since these exotic predators can complete with the native predators.

[gim]

There's no scientific evidence that zebra mussels are detrimental to a system.  They simply filter the water and make it clearer, allowing sunlight to penetrate further, thus creating more areas of vegetation.  Also, with clearer water, it warms faster.  Clearer water is better for daytime feeding predators such as smallmouth and pike and it negatively affects walleyes because they prefer darkness.  Just because the water is clearer doesn't mean its worse.

 

Zebra mussels got into Mille Lacs about a decade ago and cleared that lake up, resulting in arguably the best smallmouth fishery in North America right now.  Sure, the walleye population is down there, so it probably depends on who you ask - a walleye angler or a bass angler.  The locals there are walleye anglers so they spread propaganda about how zebra mussels have helped "ruin the lake."

[12poundbass]

9 hours ago, gimruis said:

There's no scientific evidence that zebra mussels are detrimental to a system.  They simply filter the water and make it clearer, allowing sunlight to penetrate further, thus creating more areas of vegetation.  Also, with clearer water, it warms faster.  Clearer water is better for daytime feeding predators such as smallmouth and pike and it negatively affects walleyes because they prefer darkness.  Just because the water is clearer doesn't mean its worse.

 

Zebra mussels got into Mille Lacs about a decade ago and cleared that lake up, resulting in arguably the best smallmouth fishery in North America right now.  Sure, the walleye population is down there, so it probably depends on who you ask - a walleye angler or a bass angler.  The locals there are walleye anglers so they spread propaganda about how zebra mussels have helped "ruin the lake."

Zebra muscles spread like wild fire and zebra muscles feed on plankton which is how the filter the water. Spreading like wild fire and eating plankton sets off a chain reaction that works it wall all the way to the top of the food chain. Yes they've did some good in some opinions but bottom line they're not supposed to be there.

[slonezp]

Most fish will adapt to their surroundings. I wish humans were more like fish

[TnRiver46]

We have zebra mussels in two lakes in East Tennessee now. They will cut your line quite frequently 

[J Francho]

EU Milfoil, zebra mussels, quagga mussels, round gobies.....all made fishing better.  It's impossible to get rid of them, or control them.  I'll take the improved fishing.

[Gundog]

The fact that just now they are offering a reward to help stop the problem of asian carp shows how ineffective government actually is. This is not a recent problem. Asian carp were imported as early as the 70's. Ten years ago the Department of the Interior declare asian carp as "injurious" what ever that means. They have hemmed and hawed about this for more than a decade and only managed to pass the buck to states. Now the states are forced to take action that the federal government won't. 

[12poundbass]

15 minutes ago, Gundog said:

The fact that just now they are offering a reward to help stop the problem of asian carp shows how ineffective government actually is. This is not a recent problem. Asian carp were imported as early as the 70's. Ten years ago the Department of the Interior declare asian carp as "injurious" what ever that means. They have hemmed and hawed about this for more than a decade and only managed to pass the buck to states. Now the states are forced to take action that the federal government won't. 

From what I understand none of the states really agree on anything about this and some don't seem to care. On top of that my governor seems to have been pre occupied with the Flint water crisis and is now trying to save his rear end because of the whole mess, so the carp have taken a back seat. IMO 

[CybrSlydr]

On 2/7/2017 at 9:40 PM, gimruis said:

There's no scientific evidence that zebra mussels are detrimental to a system.  They simply filter the water and make it clearer, allowing sunlight to penetrate further, thus creating more areas of vegetation.  Also, with clearer water, it warms faster.  Clearer water is better for daytime feeding predators such as smallmouth and pike and it negatively affects walleyes because they prefer darkness.  Just because the water is clearer doesn't mean its worse.

 

Zebra mussels got into Mille Lacs about a decade ago and cleared that lake up, resulting in arguably the best smallmouth fishery in North America right now.  Sure, the walleye population is down there, so it probably depends on who you ask - a walleye angler or a bass angler.  The locals there are walleye anglers so they spread propaganda about how zebra mussels have helped "ruin the lake."

You couldn't be more wrong. "No scientific evidence" my you-know-what.

 

http://people.uwec.edu/piercech/zebra/index_files/Page581.htm

 

Zebra mussels are a huge problem because they harm Native Species. In order for a zebra mussel to live, it must attach itself to a hard object. Not only do zebra mussels attach themselves to things like rocks, logs, and the hulls of ships, they also attach themselves to native species. Many native mollusk species are at risk of becoming extinct or endangered because of zebra mussels. Even slow-moving crayfish have been found covered with zebra mussels.

 

Most people think that it’s a good thing that zebra mussels filter contaminants out of the water. Well, it’s not.

Zebra mussels contribute to biomagnification—the toxins that they filter out of the water are concentrated in their bodies, and passed on to their predators. The zebra mussels’ main predator is the Round Goby, another invasive species brought from Europe, which is preyed upon by popular gamefish (walleye, bass, and perch). Biomagnification can be a problem for fisherman who eat these fish.¹

The 1 liter of water they filter each day contains a lot of phytoplankton and algae which used to be a food source for native species! Over a period of three years (1990-1993) the water clarity in Lake Michigan increased from a maximum visible depth of 13 feet to 31 feet because of zebra mussels.² This increased water clarity also allows more sunlight to filter in and support plant life, fostering the advancement of eutrophication.

https://www.umesc.usgs.gov/invasive_species/zebra_mussels.html

 

https://www.nwf.org/Wildlife/Threats-to-Wildlife/Invasive-Species/Invasive-Mussels.aspx

 

Why are they a problem?

Because they attach themselves to hard surfaces and can produce millions of offspring annually, Zebra mussels have caused drastic declines in native clam and mussel populations in some locations. Zebra mussels compete with other invertebrates and young fish for plankton, the primary food source for these groups. Industries that use river water for cooling and other uses spend millions of dollars annually for cleaning intake structures clogged by the mussels.

 

 

They eat the plankton that bait fish eat.  If the bait fish have nothing to eat, what are the game fish going to eat when the bait fish die off?

 

The evidence is out there.

[soflabasser]

On ‎2‎/‎7‎/‎2017 at 9:40 PM, gimruis said:

Zebra mussels got into Mille Lacs about a decade ago and cleared that lake up, resulting in arguably the best smallmouth fishery in North America right now.  Sure, the walleye population is down there, so it probably depends on who you ask - a walleye angler or a bass angler.  The locals there are walleye anglers so they spread propaganda about how zebra mussels have helped "ruin the lake."

 

Mill Lacs also has great Muskie fishing, with lots of +50'' fish caught from here.

[lonnie g]

figure out a way to sell them for high price sushi. and the professional net fishers will catch them all to get rich.and send them back over seas .tell them to put bacon on them . heck bacon would make a brick taste good!