Prussian Carp update

goldscud · #1 09-02-2014, 09:56 AM

A coworker said he got 4 carp at Blood Indian this weekend. He said they were full of all the same bugs that trout eat. So I guess the growth rates there should be falling dramatically over the next few years. Why do people need to move fish around and wreck water bodies???????

hillbillyreefer · #2 09-02-2014, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldscud

A coworker said he got 4 carp at Blood Indian this weekend. He said they were full of all the same bugs that trout eat. So I guess the growth rates there should be falling dramatically over the next few years. Why do people need to move fish around and wreck water bodies???????

Crappy. Planning a trip there after combining.

How was the trout fishing?

BeeGuy · #3 09-02-2014, 02:49 PM

We better get used to it.

The future of central and southern Alberta fisheries is one filled with Prussian carp.

Sad but true.

They are already established in the lower red deer, bow and oldman and tribs as well as the irrigation infrastructure. From these waterways alone they can disperse far and wide.

At least As far west as the porcupine hills too.

Sundancefisher · #4 09-02-2014, 04:29 PM

This is pure and simple eco terrorism. There should be harsh jail terms and fines for these idiots.

Please...if you know of anyone doing this...contact your local Fish and Wildlife office and report them. These people need to be stopped.

BeeGuy · #5 09-02-2014, 05:26 PM

Ecoterrorism?

I would be hesitant to apply that term.

Flapjack · #6 09-02-2014, 05:54 PM

If this is who i think it is, then the person who caught them this weekend was my dad. Here is a picture of one of the four fish from Blood Indian.

Judging by the how fat they were it seems that these fish are thriving. To think, when we fished there earlier in the year we didnt catch any all of May or June, and now, only a few months later we caught four, plus another person had one earlier in the morning as well. Trout fishing was so-so, caught more of these goldfish things..

Scariest part is how tough these suckers are, survived out of water for over three hours meanwhile as a kid i tried to keep a little trout alive in a bucket which died in about an hour or so..

Sundancefisher · #7 09-03-2014, 05:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeeGuy

Ecoterrorism?

I would be hesitant to apply that term.

Why not? They have deliberately destroyed a fishery. It will harm habitat and may extirpate native species.

May not be violence to people but they are harming us all through the destruction of our fisheries.

RisingRainbows · #8 09-04-2014, 04:35 PM

I don't understand the hesitation for people to believe in bucket biologists. Of course people are illegally introducing fish to water bodies. The science shows it's not birds just by the rate that new water bodies are currently adopting fish. If birds were doing it all along, Sundance is right, every river and lake would have every game fish. Why no Athabasca rainbows in the bow or the smoky? Quit coming up with alternative theories and focus on the real problem, people. Which is, by the way, something we can actually control.

BeeGuy · #9 09-04-2014, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RisingRainbows

I don't understand the hesitation for people to believe in bucket biologists. Of course people are illegally introducing fish to water bodies. The science shows it's not birds just by the rate that new water bodies are currently adopting fish. If birds were doing it all along, Sundance is right, every river and lake would have every game fish. Why no Athabasca rainbows in the bow or the smoky? Quit coming up with alternative theories and focus on the real problem, people. Which is, by the way, something we can actually control.

I don't think anyone has denied that people transport fish. It is just tiring to constantly hear new fish populations ascribed to them when the bucket brigade is often not responsible.

It is quite clear that we can not in fact control people or where they illegally introduce fish.

Whether it is private, public, transprovincial or transnational, there is almost nothing we can do.

It is not just the phantom bucket brigade as there are numerous methods for fish to move from one location to another.

How many active water licenses are there in this province?

Sundancefisher · #10 09-04-2014, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeeGuy

I don't think anyone has denied that people transport fish. It is just tiring to constantly hear new fish populations ascribed to them when the bucket brigade is often not responsible.

It is quite clear that we can not in fact control people or where they illegally introduce fish.

Whether it is private, public, transprovincial or transnational, there is almost nothing we can do.

It is not just the phantom bucket brigade as there are numerous methods for fish to move from one location to another.

How many active water licenses are there in this province?

Always wanting to troll in seemingly controversial subjects. Water licences. Seriously. Outside of water courses and buckets... Therw are no other processes that have done this damage.

The apathy only serves to drive these idiots to do it again and again.

http://esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife...Jun04-2014.pdf

Sundancefisher · #11 09-04-2014, 05:32 PM

This list keeps growing.

http://esrd.alberta.ca/fish-wildlife...ockedPonds.pdf

Now carp will be the next evil wave of a stupid person.

RisingRainbows · #12 09-04-2014, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BeeGuy

I don't think anyone has denied that people transport fish. It is just tiring to constantly hear new fish populations ascribed to them when the bucket brigade is often not responsible.

It is quite clear that we can not in fact control people or where they illegally introduce fish.

Whether it is private, public, transprovincial or transnational, there is almost nothing we can do.

It is not just the phantom bucket brigade as there are numerous methods for fish to move from one location to another.

How many active water licenses are there in this province?

Saying we can't control what people do is a terrible attitude. We control what we do ourselves and we control what others do via laws, enforcement, awareness, and just plain effort from people who care. Throwing in the towel and saying it is out of our control is not the answer.

BeeGuy · #13 09-04-2014, 05:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RisingRainbows

Saying we can't control what people do is a terrible attitude. We control what we do ourselves and we control what others do via laws, enforcement, awareness, and just plain effort from people who care. Throwing in the towel and saying it is out of our control is not the answer.

We have been completely ineffectual so far.

If I see someone removing live fish I will call RAP.

If we can't convince flyfishermen to bleach their waders between watersheds, I'm not sure what can be done to discourage truly malicious individuals.

baz · #14 09-04-2014, 06:19 PM

Wow,
We have a major concern to future of our fishery in Alberta as we know it and the best we can get is justification and plausible deniability from some members?
What the heck, we are sportsman and conservationists aren't we ?
How about the individuals that are more versed in this area ie: biologists etc, have a little more positive input into this problem so we can at least try as a unified group of outdoursman to effect a solution?
Baz

RisingRainbows · #15 09-12-2014, 10:15 AM

The meat still shouldn't be wasted. Why not just eat it instead of throwing it in the bushes. Or give it to another fisherman to eat...

landwalker · #16 09-12-2014, 02:04 PM

Went to a lake near Kelowna over 10 years ago, while looking for spot, walked to a place with about 10 carps on shore, rotten already, a very stinky and unpleasure scene.

J D · #17 09-12-2014, 02:37 PM

When an invasive species becomes established in multiple systems they are not going away. There are many examples of this all over the country and in the end attempts to get rid of them fail and only cost a lot of $.

In south western BC netting, Electra shock, and other methods were attempted in a lot of waters to remove largemouth bass. In the end non of it worked and the bass are still spreading along with other invasive like sunfish.

Sorry to say but these carp are now going to become part of the ecosystem in Alberta. All you can really hope for is the impact is limited.

Push for them to be legal for bait and encourage people to eat them. Find a use for them and people will go out of there way to target them. See anyone moving them be sure to report them and stick around so co's have good info so they can charge them.

Only time will tell on how this will play out.

trainerdave · #18 09-12-2014, 10:05 PM

The only thing we can do is prevent them from going upstream using weirs. I suggest every F&G club determine if this is possible and act before the Spring runoff. We may also have to look at our water diversion practices...like the following.
Prussian carp can easily invade Buffalo lake if they have not already. Water is diverted and pumped up and out of the Red Deer River through Parlby Creek. Is this water pumped through a filter? If not, they will likely invade a whole new series of waterways and lakes. Tiny minnows are sucked up and through the piping system and deposited in a whole new ecosystem. Just like that. Up the Creek without a paddle...

spinN'flyfish · #19 09-12-2014, 11:50 PM

commercially harvest them or do they taste like &*$% ?