Let me think here about How much I'm willing to argue with you Sandtiger......Ummmmm..... not at all...... as I have stated exactly what I think and your not about to change that. Carp are trash animals and they need to be exterminated in my opinion exterminated with extreme prejudice. I have no love or hate for these fish. What they are to me is a pest and as a pest species they need to be eradicated.
I never said that they shouldn't be eradicated, re-read my posts.
You can admire something you dislike, you can admire your enemys, you can admire roaches or carp or rats but still work towards their removal. Almost every exterminator I have met has expressed admiration towards the animals they kill on a daily basis. Roaches, rats, carp...they are adaptable and survive in the most adverse conditions. They do need to be controlled but like you said, in a non-offensive level. That's my argument, heck...I don't even care if you don't admire them just don't leave them on the banks to die, or cut off their fins and throw them back or stick firecrackers inside them. That's the biggest point I'm trying to make, kill them yes but don't torture them simply because they are what they are and do what nature made them to do.Admire the Rat with fins all you want.... I'm not going to and nor am I going to just accept their presence as something nothing can be done about. Something can be done about them and they can be controlled to a non-offensive level just as any other pest species can be controlled.
Being a Naturalist....I do know quite a bit about ecology, extinctions, evolution etc....I do know about the way things work in natural systems and one thing I do know is ever since we eliminated the Common carp from a particular pool of water on a restoration site, the diversity of Native species in the pool has increased ten-fold in three years. Hmmm...gee what could that mean?????????? It certianly does not mean that Carp where helping things for our Native fish and aquatic flora.
I never said they shouldn't be eradicated. In fact, I remember saying that they are a problem and should be delt with. I even remember saying that though I admire them I don't want them here.
I admire roaches as well, I can't help but admire something that's been on this planet longer than mammals. I can asure you though, if they come into my house I will kill them.These fish offer nothing to our local fauna, flora or ecology and sorry but I do not have your admiration for these pests and I never will. They are roaches and they need to be stepped on and crushed every opportunity that arises.
Who is We?
Human beings, Homo sapians, the 3rd chimpanzee...whatever you want to call us, you know full well what I ment.
It was not me involved so do not use the word we...And as far as I'm concerned these fish are trash and belong in a dump. They have no place in North American ecology except for being a chemical fertilizer substitute or seagull food. I never put them anywhere except to their timely death and removal from the ecosystem. I did not put these fish anywhere. Being Native American in my ancestory also states I did not have much to do with introducing these fish ancestorially so please never say WE as I'm not a part of this WE in any form...Maybe YOU but not ME...
Again, you know what I ment. If you're going to take it personally I guess that's your own problem to deal with.
I'm glad that's your job...we need more people that work towards those goals. We all have a negative impact on the environment, like it or not. Whether you're kicking over rocks while seining, running over amphibians in the road, useing electricity and fuel in your daily life, throwing out a babys diaper...you get the picture, it all adds up.And you may speak for yourself again here but not for me..If you really want to bet some good money though I will be happy to take yours as It is my job to secure and restore habitat for wildlife. I do more in a week for North American ecology and ecosystems than I ever contribute to the degrading of it in the same span of time. The carp I have removed in my lifetime has actually shown positive results to Native fish and aquatic macrophytes in specific restorations and this data is empirical not anecdotal. Carp have well documented negative impacts on the ecology of an area.
http://www.earthday....tprint/info.asp
here is no disputing the fact that if they are removed Native aquatic fauna and flora begin to thrive and return, this applies even to highly degraded localities. Don't tell me that removing them does not do anything for Local habitats as it very much does and every little bit helps IMHO be it one fish or a thousand.
I never said it didn't help, please if I did quote it for me. What I did say was that they are an established species over much of the country and are here to stay. If you can remove them from a specific body of water than by all means do it. You are lucky enough that it's your job. If an individual like myself tried to go and fish all the carp out of Seneca lake however, it would be in vain.