Thread: So, just to clarify a little fishing myth...

What Doug alluded to is perhaps the most interesting part of this whole story. I've thought about it as well and it stands to reason that once this becomes a profitable business, they won't want to kill the Golden Goose.

Of course if the Asians slap an extremely high demand on these fish, a good capitalist will certainly meet their demand!! It'll be interesting to see how it plays out. The commercial fishermen might find himself in a darned if you do, darned if you don't situation.

Readear, from what I got from MR's post is that the 'golden goose' will forever be at Ky and Barkley lakes. I think he, along will me, believe the Carp will be there from now on and the lakes will keep producing endless numbers year by year even with the commercial efforts. (Hopefully, we will have some bad weather to kill some off). If the commercial fisherman don't continue to knock down the numbers each year, the lakes will be 95% by volume, (my guess) Asian Carp. I'm guessing now it's at least 60-70% by volume/weight now with Carp. The Lakes (since the carp are now here) are the perfect breeding ground for millions of these fish which we have no idea how to irradiate or control at this time. So, hopefully, the price of the fish will truly be a 'golden goose incentive' to keep the commercial guys knocking down the numbers for the future of the lakes. From what I can tell, the Asian markets will take everything and more of what we can ship to them if we give them a good product.

Originally Posted by perchjerker108

The Lakes (since the carp are now here) are the perfect breeding ground for millions of these fish

That is incorrect, they cannot spawn in the lake unless there is enough current to keep the eggs high enough in the water column to survive. I believe it's been a few years since we had a strong enough current during a spring flood that they were able to actually spawn in the lake.

As of right now, they spawn easily below the dam, and then are able to move upstream through the lock. If the Bio-Acoustic Fish Fence (BAFF) test proves successful, there is hope that the carp will be at least kept below the dam, then commercial fishing efforts in the lake will get rid of the majority remaining in the lake. The BAFF won't totally solve the problem, but will greatly reduce the numbers getting into the lake via the lock at the dam.

"An interagency team led by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Nashville District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, with support from the U.S. Geological Survey, University of Minnesota, U.S. Coast Guard, and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, is combining funding, technical expertise and staff to construct a research plan that should put the Fish Guidance System acoustic bubbler system below Barkley Dam....Testing will occur over a three-year period. Most likely, officials will remove the barrier system after the test...The research goals include determining the effectiveness of a sound barrier system at restricting or reducing movement of Asian carp through lock chambers; assessing the system’s resiliency; and determining the barrier’s effect on movement of native fish species through lock chambers. Information gathered from this research will be important to future tests at other dams in the Mississippi River and Ohio River basins. The potential importance of cost-effective, barrier deterrence systems cannot be overstated."

https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-stream.aspx?n=FishandWildlife&prId=256