What Can We Do About Invasive Aquatic Species In the Great Lakes?
Okay so, what is an invasive species? Well, it could be just about anything.
It could be a fungus which grows on wheat crops, rendering those crops unviable for human consumption.
It could be a bark beetle attacking trees in the forest, eventually killing them, and making them a severe fire hazard.
It might be a weed which grows in one part of the country or one region, which could take over in another.
It could be the kudzu plants which are not native to North America but have taken over in the South.
Another invasive species might come over in the ballast water tanks on ships.
And when those ballast tanks are discharged, those species from a faraway port get out, and since they are in a new location without predators, they end up taking over.
We have another huge problem in the United States with the Asian Carp, and these fish grow fairly large, and eat up everything.
Once an invasive species takes over it's hard to get rid of, it challenges the ecosystem, disrupts the food chain, and can cause all sorts of other challenges.
Yes, I am worried about the Asian Carp, but there was an interesting piece on NPR recently; "if you can't beat them, eat them," which made sense to me, just like Africans eat the locusts after large scale plagues when those swarms eat everything else in sight - all sorts of cooking recipes.
You see, after the big Locust plagues in Africa the locusts ate all of the crops, and all of the vegetation for many square miles along their path.
The humans and other species had nothing to eat.
Many African leaders, and going back thousands of years in human history it was noted that the humans were told that they would simply eat those grasshoppers.
It turns out the grasshoppers are extremely high in protein, and although you may not like to eat a bowl full of insects, apparently they taste pretty good when they are fried, and mixed with a few other spices.
Well, it looks like we may have to do the same thing with the Asian Carp which are challenging us here the United States.
We need to start harvesting, catching, and fishing for this aquatic species, and that will allow the food chain to catch back up, and evolve with this new large predator.
That may actually be the only answer, and if we don't do something quick we will be sorry.
Fish for everyone! Please consider all this and think on it.
It could be a fungus which grows on wheat crops, rendering those crops unviable for human consumption.
It could be a bark beetle attacking trees in the forest, eventually killing them, and making them a severe fire hazard.
It might be a weed which grows in one part of the country or one region, which could take over in another.
It could be the kudzu plants which are not native to North America but have taken over in the South.
Another invasive species might come over in the ballast water tanks on ships.
And when those ballast tanks are discharged, those species from a faraway port get out, and since they are in a new location without predators, they end up taking over.
We have another huge problem in the United States with the Asian Carp, and these fish grow fairly large, and eat up everything.
Once an invasive species takes over it's hard to get rid of, it challenges the ecosystem, disrupts the food chain, and can cause all sorts of other challenges.
Yes, I am worried about the Asian Carp, but there was an interesting piece on NPR recently; "if you can't beat them, eat them," which made sense to me, just like Africans eat the locusts after large scale plagues when those swarms eat everything else in sight - all sorts of cooking recipes.
You see, after the big Locust plagues in Africa the locusts ate all of the crops, and all of the vegetation for many square miles along their path.
The humans and other species had nothing to eat.
Many African leaders, and going back thousands of years in human history it was noted that the humans were told that they would simply eat those grasshoppers.
It turns out the grasshoppers are extremely high in protein, and although you may not like to eat a bowl full of insects, apparently they taste pretty good when they are fried, and mixed with a few other spices.
Well, it looks like we may have to do the same thing with the Asian Carp which are challenging us here the United States.
We need to start harvesting, catching, and fishing for this aquatic species, and that will allow the food chain to catch back up, and evolve with this new large predator.
That may actually be the only answer, and if we don't do something quick we will be sorry.
Fish for everyone! Please consider all this and think on it.