Attack of the Asian Carp- Here we come Great Lakes

Join us with special guest Tom Marks as we speak about one of the one of the most growing problems taking over some of or best lakes and rivers. The Asian Carp.... most people have seen the "jumping carp" the ones that jump right into the boat. Sometimes you see video of hundreds jumping in a frenzy, these are silver carp. Asian carp are actually four different species of carp accidentally released into the waters of the Mississippi River basin. Silver, bighead, grass, and black carp are all lumped into one category.... Asian carp. The two which are the of the greatest concern are the silver and bighead carp, these two feed on plankton. They are eating machines consuming 40% of the body weight a day and these carp can grow big, up to 100 pounds. They feed at the very bottom end of the food chain competing with our native gamefish fry for food. Just to show what damage they can do to a fishery look at the Illinois River, a tributary to the Mississippi River, Asian carp have taken over the system over 95% of the fish by weight in the river are Asian carp. Essentially they are the only fish in the river. The bad thing about the Illinois River is that upstream there is a connection to the Great Lakes. If Asian carp reach Lake Michigan they could in time devastate the $7 billion recreational fishery in the Great Lakes.