Australia wants to give their carp herpes

[Jodell88]

The Australian politician who declared war on Johnny Depp's dogs has a new enemy - the European carp.

Barnaby Joyce, the deputy prime minister, said the only way to get rid of the "bottom-dwelling, mudsucking" fish was to unleash herpes on it.

The A$15m ($11m; £8m) eradication program, dubbed "Carpageddon" by the government, aims to rid the Murray-Darling Basin of carp.

Mr Joyce's spirited rant was met with laughter in Australia's lower house.

Carp were first introduced to Australia in 1859, but numbers exploded in the 1960s after an adapted fish-farming strain was accidently released into the wild.

It's estimated carp make up around 80-90% of the fish biomass within the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia's most important agriculture region.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36189409

I'm sure this would be a great success. What can go wrong?

 

[Newbian]

I wonder how they will do it....

 

[John Connor]

I don't know why people are so stupid. I go fishing and they catch the damn things and leave them on shore. The damn fish has a purpose FFS. Can you imagine all the shit that would be in the water if it weren't for creatures like the carp?

 

[Ichinisan]

I don't know why people are so stupid. I go fishing and they catch the damn things and leave them on shore. The damn fish has a purpose FFS. Can you imagine all the shit that would be in the water if it weren't for creatures like the carp?

Can you imagine all the native creatures in Australia's sensitive ecosystem that would still be in the water if it weren't for the invasive carp?

 

[vi edit]

I don't know why people are so stupid. I go fishing and they catch the damn things and leave them on shore. The damn fish has a purpose FFS. Can you imagine all the shit that would be in the water if it weren't for creatures like the carp?

I don't think you understand how invasive species work. Or how destructive they are. Asian carp in parts of IL are literally eating everything. Cover for other fish. Food for other fish. They are hardier and bigger than anything else. All other animals are unable to thrive and die off.

They aren't native to the area. Have no natural predators. Have very little commercial value and are devastating to local biosystems.

 

[ControlD]

I don't know why people are so stupid. I go fishing and they catch the damn things and leave them on shore. The damn fish has a purpose FFS. Can you imagine all the shit that would be in the water if it weren't for creatures like the carp?

They have a purpose yet you leave them on the shore to rot?

I never understood people leaving carp on the shore. That one fish you killed is going to have absolutely zero effect on the population. It will only leave a stinky mess for other people to deal with.

Off topic, but fly fishing for carp is a ton of fun.

 

[Linux23]

Why don't we just start eating the dam fish? I saw on an episode of Bizarre Foods where they caught and cooked these things and said it tasted delicious.

I figure after a decade of over fishing them they'd be less of a issue.

 

[Nox51]

There are a variety of carp species that get lumped under the term carp by a lot of people, not all of them being particularly good to cook.

Carp is often eaten and cook around Europe.

 

[ControlD]

Why don't we just start eating the dam fish? I saw on an episode of Bizarre Foods where they caught and cooked these things and said it tasted delicious.

I figure after a decade of over fishing them they'd be less of a issue.

I've had carp. It isn't great. Maybe there are other ways to prepare it, but I think the problem is there are any number of fish in the same waters that are much better tasting than carp. They were actually introduced in North America as a food fish, but nobody wanted to eat them. Now they are just sort of a trash fish.

Smoked carp is pretty good, but you could probably smoke a turd and it would taste good too.

 

[vi edit]

Carp are challenging to prepare because they have floating rib bones. You can't filet them like a normal fish. Small ones can be done in such a way that you can render down the bones. But older fish you have to work around them.

 

[Genx87]

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-36189409

I'm sure this would be a great success. What can go wrong?

I am convinced in the last month Australia is their own special kind of crazy.

 

[sdifox]

net them, grind them, ferterlize ground.

 

[Capt Caveman]

I don't know why people are so stupid. I go fishing and they catch the damn things and leave them on shore. The damn fish has a purpose FFS. Can you imagine all the shit that would be in the water if it weren't for creatures like the carp?

I suggest you educate yourself on the impact that invasive species have on native species. We have major problems here in the US due to them. Google - Asian carp in US and you might learn something.

 

[sdifox]

I suggest you educate yourself on the impact that invasive species have on native species. We have major problems here in the US due to them. Google - Asian carp in US and you might learn something.

JC and Learn do not mix

 

[DrPizza]

I suggest you educate yourself on the impact that invasive species have on native species. We have major problems here in the US due to them. Google - Asian carp in US and you might learn something.

Might I suggest someone give John Connor a boat ride - go fast down a river where those things have taken over, and let John sit in the bow of the boat.

 

[Denly]

Carp are challenging to prepare because they have floating rib bones. You can't filet them like a normal fish. Small ones can be done in such a way that you can render down the bones. But older fish you have to work around them.

Learn to eat fish whole?

 

[John Connor]

So what else eats all the shit in the waters besides carp?

 

[SSSnail]

Send the carps to Ethiopia. Or, send Ethiopians to the carps.

Carps per dimsum!

 

[ControlD]

So what else eats all the shit in the waters besides carp?

Catfish, crawfish, suckers, snails, etc. Plenty of natural scavengers out there.

I'm not sure exactly what "shit" you are referring to. I am guessing you mean stuff that falls to the bottom. Carp don't actually eat feces (or not intentionally at least), nor do they restrict themselves to feeding off the bottom. You can see carp eating bugs on the top of the water when the opportunity exists.

 

[sdifox]

Send the carps to Ethiopia. Or, send Ethiopians to the carps.

Carps per dimsum!

cheaper and easier to send surplus grain.

 

[lxskllr]

So what else eats all the shit in the waters besides carp?

I don't know much about fish, but catfish, crayfish, and fresh water clams/mussels immediately jump to mind. There's probably a lot of small stuff too. The easy answer though, is whatever was there before the carp.

 

[Ruptga]

It's estimated carp make up around 80-90% of the fish biomass within the Murray-Darling Basin, Australia's most important agriculture region.

The federal government wants to release cyprinid herpesvirus (carp herpesvirus) - which first appeared in Israel - into the Murray River to kill around 95% of the carp.
Science Minister Christopher Pyne said the virus would have no impact on humans, but the clean-up would be costly. Thousands of carp are expected to die after the virus is released.
"Suddenly, there will be literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions of tonnes of carp that will be dead in the River Murray," Mr Pyne said.

Sounds like the equivalent of bleaching a pool. It could work, but it's not something you can just set and forget.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Sounds like the equivalent of bleaching a pool. It could work, but it's not something you can just set and forget.

Happens to Aelwives on Lake Michigan every year. Usually it's just a smattering, but I've been there when it's been BAAAAD. (Like, everything within a half mile of the beaches stinks like rotting fish.)

My grandparents have a place on Lake Michigan. Near when used to be a dairy farm. Sometimes the smells would combine... for younger-me, it was like getting nose-fucked by a spiky flaming dragon dick.

 

[Jodell88]

Happens to Aelwives on Lake Michigan every year. Usually it's just a smattering, but I've been there when it's been BAAAAD. (Like, everything within a half mile of the beaches stinks like rotting fish.)

My grandparents have a place on Lake Michigan. Near when used to be a dairy farm. Sometimes the smells would combine... for younger-me, it was like getting nose-fucked by a spiky flaming dragon dick.

lol @ your description.

 

[KMFJD]