The waters of the lower Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi rivers are facing the menace of Asian carp species which causes problems in the region’s waterways. It is said that Arkansas fish farmers imported bighead carp and silver carp, Asian origin, as pond cleaners in the 1970s. But the Asians escaped their commercial surroundings when floodwaters came calling to lowland ponds in 1993.
After the accidental release of these carp Mississippi River was proliferated with it. The carps were then blew up in numbers in all the major tributaries, including the lower Ohio and the far downstream ends of the Tennessee and Cumberland. Besides, the Asian carp force themselves among those swimming local waters. But that’s especially true for huge numbers of large fish — silver carp easily reach 30 pounds and bighead carp potentially double that size and more.
Paul Rister, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources fisheries biologist, told that vast numbers of Asian carp could undermine the food base for other fish. As filter feeders, the bighead and silver carp strain small organisms, algae and plankton, from the water. It is said that the growing population of these carp might dramatically reduce this material, which is a basic food source for juvenile fish of many species and a primary food source for shad and paddlefish.
A wild abundance of fish might seem to be a bounty instead of a blight to a commercial fisherman, but it all has to do with public demand. Ronnie Hopkins of Ledbetter, a commercial fisherman, said that these carp are tasty fish, but there’s no local market for Asian carp. He added that with the huge resource of Asian carp in area rivers and lakes, consequently, processing facilities are needed to turn the invaders into ground fish patties or other forms that can be used in the mass market.
