Javascript Disabled Detected

You currently have javascript disabled. Several functions may not work. Please re-enable javascript to access full functionality.

5th Annual Everglades CISMA Non-Native Fish Round Up

Started by Guest_rc6750_* , Apr 22 2014 03:10 PM

Please log in to reply

14 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_rc6750_*

Guests

Posted 22 April 2014 - 03:10 PM

I just found out about this event - just dropping this here in case anybody is interested

http://www.everglade...ma.org/roundup/

Back to top

#2 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

Guests

Posted 28 April 2014 - 11:51 PM

Wow, the thing about grass carp. All righty then.

Back to top

#3 littlen

NANFA Member

Washington, D.C.

Posted 08 May 2014 - 09:39 PM

I second your feelings on that! I wish Walter Matthau were still alive so he could repeat his quote from 'Grumpy Old Men'......."Hey, [ECISMA, or Florida for that matter]! Why don't you do the world a favor and take your lower lip and pull it over your head and swallow?"

Can anyone give a better explanation of Florida's position on that specific subject?

I'm surprised it didn't also say somewhere:
"Any Burmese pythons that are captured must be released immediately as they consume the invasive Nutria".

Nick L.

Back to top

#4 Guest_ThomasDodson_*

Guests

Posted 08 May 2014 - 11:05 PM

I agree with the opinions on the grass carp but I do not believe this is a really unusual thing. For example, grass carp up here in North Dakota must be returned to the waters unharmed as well. The belief of "useful" vegetation control seems to run deep in Fisheries managers.

Back to top

#5 littlen

NANFA Member

Washington, D.C.

Posted 09 May 2014 - 08:51 AM

I hear what you're saying, Thomas. However, I'm sure you can see the oxymoron Martin and I see where an event to remove over-abundant invasive species says you have to leave one alone.

Nick L.

Back to top

#6 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guests

Posted 10 May 2014 - 01:27 PM

Oh, but don't worry guys they are all triploid and therefore sterile. No way any mistakes could have been made in spawning them.

Back to top

#7 Guest_mikez_*

Guests

Posted 13 June 2014 - 05:59 AM

Oh, but don't worry guys they are all triploid and therefore sterile. No way any mistakes could have been made in spawning them.

Forgive me, but are you being sarcastic? I ask because I do not know much [anything?] about grass carp. We don't seem to have an issue with them in Ma. Never did much reading on them.

Florida is a funny state. Not sure what their leaders are thinking. After my recent trip I found it amazing that all the fishermen lived in fear of the warden who might appear at any minute, but yet in the evenings, we couldn't visit the convenience store across from our motel because of the hookers and drug dealers openly blocking the sidewalk.
Saw rangers and wardens almost wherever we fished but never saw a patrol car anywhere near where we were staying.
Contradictory messages, just like leaving invasive grass carp alive.

Back to top

#8 Guest_gerald_*

Guests

Posted 13 June 2014 - 08:45 AM

Some of the feral and reproducing grass carp in the USA are believed to be offspring of supposedly "sterile" fish. Given their long life span and high fecundity, a 99.9 percent success rate in the sterilization process is not good enough. One failure every few years can result in a feral population. FL spends HUGE amounts of money on aquatic weed control, and their use of grass carp (hopefully sterile triploids) has dramatically reduced their need for aquatic herbicide use (and cost of treatment). The longer each grass carp lives, the fewer new ones need to be stocked, and thus reducing the risk of an accidental fertile one getting out. So, save the grass carp in FL -- the "lesser evil".

Back to top

#9 Guest_mikez_*

Guests

Posted 14 June 2014 - 08:15 AM

Ok, now I get it - triploid is not infallible, some are not sterile.

Without a lot of background knowledge, I like what Gerald said about lesser evils. Don't like herbicides or the mechanical removal machines.

Too bad they couldn't sink some of that money into wastewater treatment plant upgrades, and maybe tighten up zoning laws to reduce congestion. Reducing nutrients from surface waters helps control weed growth. Admittedly not the whole solution.

Back to top

#10 Guest_mneilson_*

Guests

Posted 18 June 2014 - 02:05 PM

Too bad they couldn't sink some of that money into wastewater treatment plant upgrades, and maybe tighten up zoning laws to reduce congestion. Reducing nutrients from surface waters helps control weed growth. Admittedly not the whole solution.

Not likely given the current politcal climate down here.

Back to top

#11 Guest_mikez_*

Guests

Posted 18 June 2014 - 08:37 PM

I feel your pain Matt. Visited the state recently myself. Saw parts of the state where no tourists go, this yankee learned some interesting things 'bout the south. Some good stories for another venue.

There is good stuff being done in the state, some pretty cools stuff conservation-wise, but often it's not the state itself doing it [so seems to me anyway]. Great place to be a herpetology grad student right now.

Edited by mikez, 18 June 2014 - 08:39 PM.

Back to top

#12 Guest_Skipjack_*

Guests

Posted 18 June 2014 - 09:38 PM

That is part of the problem with grass carp. Since they typically do not breed, as they reach adult size, their food consumption drops off considerably. They are simply maintaining mass, never consuming a large amount of vegetation to supports spawning. So they are typically stocked frequently. Most pond owners fish them out or shoot them at around 24 to 30 inches, as they cease to do their job around that size. So the cycle starts, more carp equals more likelihood of fertile fish. Still may be the lesser evil. ??

Back to top

#13 Guest_mikez_*

Guests

Posted 20 June 2014 - 06:10 AM

. Still may be the lesser evil. ??

I can't defend them. I just don't like herbicides. Admittedly I'm not an expert. I just recently read up on grass carp biology and learned the reason we don't have a big issue in Ma is that we lack the required habitat for them to reproduce.
As a sport fisherman, I'm used to exotic fish stocked by the state. The concept may be more tolerable to me for that reason. Doesn't make it a good thing, just feels less bad.

Back to top

#14 Guest_Irate Mormon_*

Guests

Posted 21 June 2014 - 01:26 AM

Without a lot of background knowledge, I like what Gerald said about lesser evils.

"There was an old lady who swallowed a fly..."

Back to top

#15 Guest_butch_*

Guests

Posted 23 June 2014 - 10:27 AM

I've read the studies on the fertility of triploid carps. Apparently you can get offspring from a female triploid carp and a male fertile diploid carp.