The Spreading of Asian Carp The Asian carp is an invasive species that is vastly multiplying across lakes and rivers in the United States. Asian carp are a type of large fish from Southeast Asia. These carp are more traditionally known as Black carp, Silver carp, and Bighead carp. Asian carp were originally brought into the United States to be put into aquaculture ponds to filter and clean the water. After a flood in Arkansas, the Asian carp escaped from the aquaculture ponds and made their ways into many other waterways. A common place or the Asian Carp to be found is in the Illinois River.
In the river, the carp are stronger and out compete the native fish for resources which can turn into a large problem. The Asian carp are an invasive species that are quickly spreading in waterways across America. One of the main reasons that the Asian carp is a problem is because of how large they could potently grow. There are many benefits of removing the carp from the Illinois River and the waters surrounding it. Asian carp can grow up to be over 100 pounds and this is the root of many problems. First of all they are competing with the other fish in the river for food and space.
The diet of the fish native to the river and the Asian carp are very similar. Therefore there is not enough food for all of the fish. Since the carp are more dominant they are able to out compete the native fish for the food. Another problem with the carp’s size is that that they can injure boater with their bodies. Asian carp have the tendency to get startled easily and jump. The carp will jump at the sound of a boat engine and could possibly hit and injure boaters. Since the carp are so large in size this can be a problem if they jump towards people.
The Asian carp’s large size is one of the dangers that they bring to the environment they are living in. Another downside of the Asian carp is their major negative effect on the economy. Large amounts of a certain fish are generally not good for the economy. Since the flood that started the spread of the carp they have spread from Arkansas, to Illinois, M MISSIssippi, and now are getting close to Michigan. The industry in the Great Lakes for fishing is very high. If the carp spread up into the Great Lakes this could lower the success of the fishing industry.
This is because the high populations of carp could out compete the species of fish that the market is for in the Great Lakes. A large problem with Asian carp spreading up into the great lakes is that is can hurt our economy. Although there are many negative effects to Asian Carp, there are some benefits that the carp bring along with them. For starters the Asian carp are used to keep aquaculture ponds clean. These fish are released into stock ponds to filter the water. Once limited numbers of these fish are released into the ponds they can start the filtration process.
Also another useful reason for the carp are that they are edible. Since there is an ample amount of these fish, there are plenty of them to sell and eat. A main reason more carp are not sold to eat is because that it is not economically effective price wise, since there are so many. A benefit that the Asian Carp give off is that the ample amounts of fish can be sold. There are many benefits to removing the Asian Carp from the rivers of the United States, but there are also a few positives. The Asian Carp is a threatening species to many fish that are native to the United States’ rivers.
The carp are threatening fish, hurting the economy, and are injuring boaters. Although these fish can be sold and are also used to keep aquaculture ponds clean. There are both benefits and drawbacks to keeping the carp in the rivers across the United States. Even though there are some advantages to removing the cap from the Mississippi and Illinois rivers, there are more disadvantages and therefore they should be removed. The Asian carp is an invasive species slowly taking over waterways across the United States, if the spread of these fish was to be stopped it would be beneficial to other fish, boaters, and the economy.
