I
Ian Cloke
Guest
PEORIA ? Frustration grows among Illinois River anglers as they catch fewer fish and watch silver carp jump around and into their boats.
An invasive species whose population is quickly growing, Asian carp shove out native species as they compete for food and habitat.
?The fishermen are still catching catfish, but some of the other sportfish numbers, such as the largemouth bass and crappie, seem to be down,? said Kevin Irons, the Illinois River biologist for the Illinois Natural History Survey. ?Although they fluctuate with water levels from year to year, so we don?t know if it?s the direct effect of the Asian carp.
?But there is at least a perception that when you have a bad day of fishing and there are all these Asian carp jumping around, something is going on,?
Irons noted that by mass, if not number, Asian carp are the dominant fish in the river.
?Everywhere you go they are there and it?s a disruption,? he said.
Studies show gizzard shad and buffalo populations have declined in the past five years as the Asian carp have moved into the river.
?So something is happening,? Irons said.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has had only one confirmed report of an Asian carp in the Rock River.
A local angler pulled a 7-pound bighead Asian carp from the Rock near the Fordam Dam in Rockford last summer.
The Rock River?s series of dams provides some protection from migrating Asian carp in the Mississippi River.
Humans also play a major role in keeping the fish out of the Rock.
The bighead found in the Rock may have been dumped in the river by an angler when it was small and resembled a gizzard shad.
Some anglers will net gizzard shad along the Mississippi River and use them for bait.
Sometimes small bigheads will be among the shad, and when the fishermen throw their unused bait in another river, such as the Rock, they are spreading bigheads.
?One of the biggest things that sportsmen can do is not transfer water or baitfish between locations,? said Greg Conover of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.
?It is certainly one of the greatest risks of spreading Asian carp and other invasive species to different areas, like the Rock River.?
An invasive species whose population is quickly growing, Asian carp shove out native species as they compete for food and habitat.
?The fishermen are still catching catfish, but some of the other sportfish numbers, such as the largemouth bass and crappie, seem to be down,? said Kevin Irons, the Illinois River biologist for the Illinois Natural History Survey. ?Although they fluctuate with water levels from year to year, so we don?t know if it?s the direct effect of the Asian carp.
?But there is at least a perception that when you have a bad day of fishing and there are all these Asian carp jumping around, something is going on,?
Irons noted that by mass, if not number, Asian carp are the dominant fish in the river.
?Everywhere you go they are there and it?s a disruption,? he said.
Studies show gizzard shad and buffalo populations have declined in the past five years as the Asian carp have moved into the river.
?So something is happening,? Irons said.
The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has had only one confirmed report of an Asian carp in the Rock River.
A local angler pulled a 7-pound bighead Asian carp from the Rock near the Fordam Dam in Rockford last summer.
The Rock River?s series of dams provides some protection from migrating Asian carp in the Mississippi River.
Humans also play a major role in keeping the fish out of the Rock.
The bighead found in the Rock may have been dumped in the river by an angler when it was small and resembled a gizzard shad.
Some anglers will net gizzard shad along the Mississippi River and use them for bait.
Sometimes small bigheads will be among the shad, and when the fishermen throw their unused bait in another river, such as the Rock, they are spreading bigheads.
?One of the biggest things that sportsmen can do is not transfer water or baitfish between locations,? said Greg Conover of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services.
?It is certainly one of the greatest risks of spreading Asian carp and other invasive species to different areas, like the Rock River.?