Even though we can add many different layers and elements to fly fishing, at its core it only maintains a few requirements. Of these remains an object to ply our craft toward. Regardless of where you fish, whether it is in cold or warm water, in lakes or rivers, in small streams or cold tail-waters, you are there because it contains some species of sport fish that interests you.
Sport fish fuel many of our imaginations. They draw us into locales ranging from our backyard pond to exotic places surrounded by majestic mountains. We as fishermen have dedicated voluminous resources in the form of time and money to protect and nurture them. Sport fish have become a major part of many of our lives, and their health in both quality and population remains a core component of many of us who are conservation-minded.
However, there is a burgeoning threat on the horizon that is working to displace our beloved sport fish. It is a non-native species that is both a prolific breeder and a gluttonous feeder. This enemy is called the Asian carp.
Asian carp are an invasive species that were first imported into this country to help maintain lakes used in aquaculture in our southern states. Massive floods in the mid-90s allowed these creatures to escape their confines and enter our nation’s major river systems. There, they established a foothold and effectively adapted to their new environment, displacing many of the native fish species and accounting for over 90% of biomass in the waters they inhabit. They have moved quickly, reaching up through the Mississippi and its connected tributaries. Their reach is growing ever farther and infesting waterway after waterway.
Asian carp are on the verge of creating a major catastrophe to our nation’s largest freshwater fishery. Already these fish have wreaked major havoc in the Mississippi River and are spreading their mayhem up the Illinois River toward the Great Lakes. Their invasion into this massive fishery will strike one of the greatest natural losses to freshwater sport fishing that we may witness in our lifetime.
All in our club enjoy fishing the Great Lakes for steelhead and salmon. Many more of us enjoy the walleye bonanzas of spring as well as the smallmouth and perch fishing. However, these species will disappear and our sport will become a relic of the past. Sport fish simply cannot compete with Asian carp and are eventually overrun by them. Sport fish would literally starve to death as this destructive plague quickly moves to fill every available space. It would eliminate what is estimated to be upwards of a $7 billion fishery. And even if the loss of the Great Lakes fishery does not elicit some response inside of you, consider that Asian carp have already made headway into the great Commonwealth of Kentucky as of this writing. It is a real and common threat.
But why are Asian Carp so dangerous? Why must we act to defend our resources against this threat? The simple answer is that their presence quickly collapses sport fishing populations. Asian Carp are so dangerous because they are filter feeders. They eat the microorganisms and freshwater plankton that make up the very base of the food chain. This puts immense pressure on both the juvenile sport fish that also feed on this, as well as the baitfish that the sport fish will feed upon when they mature.
Another terrifying aspect is the rate at which they are able to accomplish these calamities. Asian Carp are truly prolific breeders and massive gluttons that can reach weights of up to 100 pounds or more. I’m sure everyone has seen videos of these fish jumping out of water as motorboats pass, and those who have seen the videos may notice that they pop out of almost every nook and cranny on the water. Those who frequent the waterways that the Asian carp currently infest can say they are an encumbrance to enjoying their outdoor environment and they deeply desire to be rid of them.
However, the scariest part of the impending Asian carp infestation is that there currently is no way of stopping it. At this point, measures to physically close infested rivers’ access to the Great Lakes, such as the Illinois River, have failed because of legal wrangling and competing economic interests to those who utilize the waterway for other uses. Electronic barriers are being erected and many other measures are being taken to compensate for this, but the consensus is among some scientists that it is not a measure of “if” but “when” this debacle unfolds.
There are some naysayers, in the vast minority, who believe that Asian carp can’t establish footholds in the Great Lakes. They argue that a prior invasion from the zebra mussel has rendered the water less inhabitable. I only give credence to their argument so that I can make a well-informed opinion about the issue. However, after reviewing the evidence and reading the comparisons between the Great Lakes and their natural habitats in Asia, it can only be concluded that they will do significant and long-standing damage. We must side with the opinions offered by state fisheries’ biologists and other leading scientists that they will overrun the lakes. We simply cannot sit on our hands and see how it unravels. We must work to make sure this doesn’t happen both in the Great Lakes and here at home in our local waters by supporting initiatives to eradicate, or in the least, manage this threat.
The time to get involved is upon us. Currently, government action is critical. Funding and research must be done to find ways to combat the Asian carp and control its range. We as sportsmen and private citizens must use whatever influence we have to ensure that combating Asian carp remains a top priority for our elected officials and the bureaucracies that have resources to help. NKFF has committed itself to embracing the fight against Asian carp into its conservation agenda, to make its voice heard at public meetings about the issue, and continue to stay abreast of the facts and inform others.
The clock is ticking on this one. We must act before it is too late.
