Why do the mild-mannered Asian carp dominate the world in the United States? How terrible are biological invasions?

The carp mentioned here, also called Asian carp, is not limited to the one kind of carp commonly mentioned in our country (see the picture below), but refers to the general term for the entire "Asian carp family", which includes common freshwater farmed fish in China - silver carp, black carp, bighead carp and carp.

Carp Jumping Over Dragon Gate

Asian carp has various names in China. For example, silver carp is also called white carp and jumping carp; black carp is also called grass carp and Anhui carp; bighead carp is also called flower carp and bighead carp; carp is also called golden carp, red carp and hairy carp.

These fish have always lived freely in the waters of China and Asia. People have tried every means to nurture and protect them, so that a certain number of them can be preserved for people to enjoy for a long time. In ancient times, there was a legend about a carp jumping over the Dragon Gate. It is said that once a carp jumps over the Dragon Gate, it will turn into a real dragon, ride on the clouds and ascend to heaven to become an immortal.

In reality, of course, there is no dragon gate to jump over, but in the last century, people regarded studying in the United States as jumping over a dragon gate. At that time, a group of carp also went to the United States, and were invited by the Americans as VIPs. Studying in the American rivers and lakes can also be regarded as jumping over a dragon gate.

Why do Americans invite Asian carp to be their guests?

In the 1960s, the fishery industry in the United States encountered a problem, that is, the proliferation of aquatic plants such as algae. At first, the relevant departments of the United States wanted to find a chemical to kill these organisms as soon as possible, but some experts proposed using biological control methods to solve the problem in a more environmentally friendly way.

Therefore, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed the plan of introducing Asian carp. After research by experts, these Asian carp basically have one common feature, which is that they consume about 40% of their own weight of aquatic plants, phytoplankton, or clams and other organisms every day, and they are highly adaptable to the environment. Their arrival will definitely complete the task of clearing those harmful algae.

Moreover, since these Asian carps are a delicacy in Asian countries, introducing them here can also enrich the American table. It turns out that the Americans also have the problem of overfishing local fish, which has led to a decrease in fish stocks and a shortage of supply. These Asian carps are gentle in nature and will not eat local fish. Their introduction here can make up for the shortage of local fish and bring more delicious enjoyment to people. It is a win-win situation. Why not?

Ideals are rich, but reality is harsh

This idea is very good and has been supported by the US government, which approved the plan and called it the "Professional Fish Talent Introduction Program". So, these carps were introduced as "fish talents". I was right to say that these Asian carps were invited as VIPs and jumped over the dragon gate.

So, these Asian carps came to the United States in large numbers "holding legal visas". These "fish talents" did not disappoint the expectations of the US government at all. They stayed obediently in the fish ponds of many farms in the United States, working diligently and effectively eliminating those harmful algae.

Unfortunately, contrary to the government's expectations, the ideal of enriching people's tables was rich, but the reality was very skinny, and the plan fell through. Because the Americans did not like these carps at all, they did not eat them. This was of course a great joy for the carps, but it became a big bug for the US government.

With the rising water and various accidents, these carp with nothing to do after finishing their work kept escaping from the fish ponds, entering the rivers and lakes across the United States, and gradually became the bosses of the rivers and lakes.

Why don’t Americans like to eat carp?

The eating styles and habits of European and American countries are completely different from those of Asia, especially China. The main differences are: 1. Their processing methods are relatively simple, and they generally use cooking methods that maintain the original flavor of the ingredients; 2. They have been eating more large fish and sea fish since childhood, and rarely eat freshwater fish with more bones. They have no habit of spitting out bones, especially small bones.

This brings up several problems: First, Asian carp itself has a very strong muddy smell. In China, there are various ways to cook it, including frying, stewing, and stir-frying, and various condiments are used, such as chili, ginger, garlic, pepper, Sichuan pepper, etc., which make the taste very strong. Not only does it cover up the muddy smell, but it also becomes a delicious dish with endless changes of fresh, sour, spicy and ever-changing flavors. However, when American chefs cook it according to American methods, it becomes a pile of smelly and unpalatable stuff.

In this way, people who are used to eating big sea fish will not choose to eat such a pile of smelly and unpalatable stuff.

Second, Chinese people have learned to eat freshwater fish since childhood. You see, some children at a very young age take a bite of freshwater fish, stir it with their mouths and tongues, leaving the fish meat and spitting out the bones, and smacking their lips as they savor the taste. However, Americans use knives and forks and only know how to eat boneless meat in big bites. When they put the fish meat full of bones in their mouths, they don't know how to get the bones out, and if they are not careful, they may get the bones stuck in their mouths, tongue and throat, so they have to go to the hospital for surgery to remove them.

If the chefs remove the bones one by one during cooking, the fish meat will be mushy and can only be made into fish balls. And the price of cooking a fish like this is very high. They will feel stupid for spending a lot of money to consume this muddy and fishy thing, right?

In this way, few people in the United States will be interested in Asian carp, and these carp can roam freely and reproduce everywhere without any worries.

Without natural enemies, the carp that studied abroad have over-breeding, which has become a disaster.

The U.S. government had good intentions when it introduced carp, but the result was a headache for them. It is easy to invite guests but difficult to send them away. After completing their mission, these carp not only stayed but also enjoyed free love in a free country with no restrictions on family planning. As a result, they worked hard to have many children and grandchildren, occupied the entire freshwater area, and dominated the rivers and lakes.

In China and other Asian countries, these carps have natural enemies, and the biggest natural enemy is humans. Asian people like to eat freshwater fish, and they cook these carps in various ways, making them extremely delicious and never tiring to eat. Therefore, it is difficult for these fish to spread in Asia, and there is often a shortage of supply.

In the United States, however, natural enemies are unwilling to touch these carps, so their nature is fully liberated and they work hard to produce eggs. A female carp can easily produce hundreds of thousands to millions of eggs at a time, and up to 5 million eggs at a time, so they reproduce very quickly. By the 1980s, Asian carps were found in all major rivers and lakes in the United States.

The US government once tried to block the Great Lakes with a defensive power grid in an attempt to prevent the spread of the carp, but it soon failed. It then attempted to use some chemical poisons to kill these former "heroes", but most of those poisoned were local fish, while the carp seemed to be unharmed.

As a result, these carps are becoming more and more numerous, growing larger and larger, with some weighing tens or even hundreds of kilograms. The proliferation of these carps has seriously affected the local ecology. Although they do not eat local fish, they have squeezed out the food and living space of local fish, resulting in fewer and fewer local fish, forming a situation where the sparrow occupies the dove's nest, causing the local ecological chain to break.

Is there any way to eradicate this species invasion ecological disaster?

The US also tried to introduce Asians or Chinese people to catch these fish and then sell them back to Asia or China, but it didn't work either. Asians like to eat fresh, live freshwater fish, and the carp caught from the US are no longer fresh when shipped by sea, but frozen, so not many people like them. The high transportation cost makes it uneconomical.

So is there a way to deal with this ecological disaster? I don't know. But I wonder, what if some Chinese bigwigs go to the United States to build some fish canning factories? There, carp fishing is free, and even government subsidies are available. Carp can be made into delicious canned fish and sold back to Asia, and the shelf life is fully guaranteed. So, can this problem be solved?

From the invasion of Asian carp in the United States, we can see that biological invasion disasters are very destructive and difficult to eradicate. There have been many biological invasions in the world, and the lessons are profound. Some are plant invasions, and some are animal invasions. Because once these plants and animals leave their original habitats, their natural enemies and ecological chains will change, which will inevitably have a major impact on the local ecological chain.

For example, China has been invaded by many species such as water hyacinth, gypsy moth, and giant African snail. Australia has also been invaded by rabbits, etc., all of which have had a huge impact on the local ecology and are difficult to eradicate and resolve.

Therefore, biological invasion is a very scary and major event. Now all countries have strict control over biological imports, and fresh products must be strictly screened and quarantined when entering and leaving the customs, but biological invasion is still difficult to avoid. In the future, will humans be devastated by biological invasion? I don't know.

What do you think? Welcome to discuss, thank you for reading.

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