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Trout - Are They Invasive Species?
Our friend Marshall Cutchin over at Midcurrent picked this news tidbit up on the wire naming trout an invasive species in Australian waters. The Herald Sun sun story by Peter Rolfe debates the realities of what is sure to be a very hot topic in Australia.
Should the government cull trout from major rivers to bring ecological balance at the risk of losing tons of tourism dollars? What do you think? I would reckon most rivers in the united states support fisheries that do not have native species. What if the feds decided to wipe out smallmouths, trout, carp, etc... from local waterways in your town? What kind of impact would this have on your economy. Your saneness?
TR
Depends if the native species are any good to catch. I mean if I lived in a region with the only native fish being sunnies and ugly carp, sure I'd let trout take over.
Posted by: Evan V | January 02, 2008 at 09:08 PM
Evan,
I suppose you're right, although technically speaking introducing alien species to any water typically turns out to be a seriously bad mistake in the long run.
PS. why are you bad-mouthing carp? I personally love the ugly bastards.
Posted by: tim Romano | January 03, 2008 at 11:30 AM
wide-angle fish photographers are an invasive species.
Posted by: joey | January 04, 2008 at 12:13 AM
joey,
go back to your cave.
Posted by: | January 04, 2008 at 09:24 AM
Being from Pennsylvania, I get to see a pretty extensive trout stocking program at work each year. It's a put and take fishery in many parts of the state. Rainbows and browns are certainly not native, while the least stocked Brookie is a native and even our state fish.
every year during the closed season while stockings are going on, I wonder just what effects releasing large numbers of full grown predators into all of our local streams is doing to the ecosystem. It' certainly can't be good for native species of small fish, insects, and anything else small that lives in the water. I hope in the future the PA F&BC makes moves towards more sustainable fisheries.
Posted by: Louis | April 11, 2008 at 04:42 PM