# Could we fish the Asian carp to death? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 30, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056 "2010-01-30T21:15:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![figure9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f0a364/32.png) [@figure9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/figure9)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/1 "2010-01-30T21:15:31Z")
We have managed to force many animals into extinction without even trying. If we made a concerted effort could we wipe out the Asian carp in the U.S.? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/2 "2010-01-30T21:19:58Z")
[Background info](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_carps#Invasive_Species_Status_in_North_America). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/3 "2010-01-30T21:48:39Z")
Probably not, since they’re continually being re-introduced by people flushing goldfish, or otherwise disposing of them in bodies of water. In Yellowstone, there is a concerted effort to wipe out the invasive Lake Trout (if you’re fishing for anything and catch one, you’re required to keep it, no catch-and-release, no license required), and it hasn’t worked yet. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/4 "2010-01-30T21:51:52Z")
No. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/5 "2010-01-30T22:18:42Z")
There’s an enormous economic motive to harvest fish for food. That gets thousands of people out to do the fishing. What is the economic motive to get people to wipe out Asian carp? You’d need to be competitive with other means of making a living. Who is going to pay for that? ---
**Author:** ![Huerta88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/82dd89/32.png) [@Huerta88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Huerta88)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/6 "2010-01-30T22:31:28Z")
Wiki also says: > [@](#): > > Because of their filter-feeding habits, they are difficult to capture by normal angling methods. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2010, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/7 "2010-01-30T22:47:30Z")
There was a story on NPR discussing ways of eating it. Apparently, it can be quite tasty, but requires some skill in removing the bones and prepping it. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/8 "2010-01-31T02:20:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Probably not, since they’re continually being re-introduced by people flushing goldfish, or otherwise disposing of them in bodies of water. Different carp from Asia. And they last about ten seconds in the presence of largemouth bass. ---
**Author:** ![Getheren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Getheren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Getheren)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/9 "2010-02-01T02:07:11Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > We have managed to force many animals into extinction without even trying. If we made a concerted effort could we wipe out the Asian carp in the U.S.? Not everything that happens by accident can be pulled off by conscious effort; I refer you to the history of viral marketing for all the proof you could want. The real catch here is that eradication of the Asian carp would have to be done in such a way that it left the indigenous flora and fauna more or less intact, which rules out all the sure ways of wiping out whole populations of fish (powerful piscicides, dynamiting, playing Gwen Stefani CDs at them). The best that could be hoped for, really, is the approach that worked extremely well with gypsy moth caterpillars: transform the invasive species into a balanced part of the environment by introducing a population check from the invasive species’ native environment. In the case of gypsy moth caterpillars, this was a small parasitoid wasp; in the case of Asian carp, it might be a parasitic nematode or something. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/10 "2010-02-01T02:09:27Z")
Of course, you want to be particularly careful to keep that magic parasitic nematode from becoming a pest as big as the carp is. ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/11 "2010-02-01T02:46:28Z")
Those things freak me out. My family boats for recreation on the Mississippi and those things have been known to jump in the boat. Thick gloves and other safety stuff have to be kept in easy reach in the boat now after my uncle was injured by one of them flopping around after it jumped in. We have to be ready after we spot them so no one gets hurt. There are sort of neat to see freak out and jump but not when it looks like or they succeed in getting into the boat! ---
**Author:** ![Getheren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bcef8e/32.png) [@Getheren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Getheren)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/12 "2010-02-01T03:02:25Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > Of course, you want to be particularly careful to keep that magic parasitic nematode from becoming a pest as big as the carp is. Definitely true, but the success with gypsy moth caterpillars proves that that scenario can be avoided (the wasp I mentioned predates very specifically on gypsy moths). ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/13 "2010-02-01T03:50:18Z")
> [@figure9](#): > > We have managed to force many animals into extinction without even trying. If we made a concerted effort could we wipe out the Asian carp in the U.S.? Actually, what us humans are _really_ good at is forcing species into _near_ extinction. ---
**Author:** ![bluezooky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e8c25b/32.png) [@bluezooky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bluezooky)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/14 "2010-02-01T08:36:54Z")
Carp have been almost wiped out in lakes Crescent and Sorell in Tasmania, a few females are radio tracked so its possible to track down and net the spawning aggregations. It’s only a few strains of carp that are environmentally destructive with goldfish or goldfish/carp hybrids being relatively harmless to the ecosystem ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/15 "2010-02-01T12:40:44Z")
So, I am bit shocked that someone wants to eradicate a species. What is the justification? The spread of one species to other areas, via the assistance of storms, or carried by other species, is part of the process. I also believe that it is part of the process for our species to decide to wipe them out, but it is this last point that most people consider un-natural (although I never understood why). So, has the SDMB had the epiphany yet? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/16 "2010-02-01T13:41:31Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > So, I am bit shocked that someone wants to eradicate a species. Perhaps the word you were looking for is _extirpate_. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/17 "2010-02-01T13:52:49Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > So, I am bit shocked that someone wants to eradicate a species. What’s “shocking” about eliminating a species from a locale where it has become a pest? Or completely destroying it in the wild like smallpox, if it is sufficiently dangerous? > [@Philster](#): > > What is the justification? The spread of one species to other areas, via the assistance of storms, or carried by other species, is part of the process. But not so fast, not so far, not so often as we are doing it. And the justification is that most people don’t want to see the ecology ruined and most species go extinct. Which is the likely result of a “Who cares?” attitude towards the environment. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/18 "2010-02-01T14:31:16Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > Perhaps the word you were looking for is _extirpate_. No, it is not. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/19 "2010-02-01T14:38:58Z")
I don’t think the OP is suggesting the extermination of a species. He wants to know if there is a way of exterminating the population that is where it should not be. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056/20 "2010-02-01T14:40:08Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > What’s “shocking” about eliminating a species from a locale where it has become a pest? Or completely destroying it in the wild like smallpox, if it is sufficiently dangerous? > But not so fast, not so far, not so often as we are doing it. And the justification is that most people don’t want to see the ecology ruined and most species go extinct. Which is the likely result of a “Who cares?” attitude towards the environment. **I** have no problem with the idea. I am shocked that it would be accepted here. There is no right or wrong here. We move about the earth and we evolved as incredible tool makers. We are able to intentionally and unintentionally move things around this planet. That’s a natural process. We can do whatever we want with the carp, just as we can do whatever we want with salmon. In the end, it will be what’s in OUR best interest, but let’s not kid ourselves and say it (carp growth) is ruining the ecology. The ecology is whatever it is. It is never ruined. It might be ruined for **us** , for what is in our best interest, but there is no master plan of what is best for the ecology of any area. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/could-we-fish-the-asian-carp-to-death/527056.md?page=2)