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"The Fight To Keep Grass Carp Out Of The Great Lakes"

"Canada and the U.S. are working together to stop a massive fish from gobbling up Great Lakes greenery"

"From the window of a fishing boat, Andrew Taves has a clear view of how Lake Erie is changing. He’s been a commercial fisherman for just shy of seven years in Wheatley, Ont., which claims to be the largest freshwater commercial fishing port in the world.

Taves and his crewmates set nets primarily for the most valuable and sought-after fish — yellow perch and pickerel — as well as a couple other species of lesser value. Sometimes they catch lamprey, gobies and other invasive fish, as well as significant quantities of low-value shad — a species that’s supposed to largely die off in winter, but which Taves suspects has proliferated due to warmer winter water temperatures.

Taves has yet to find grass carp in his crew’s nets, but it could be just a matter of time.

The invasive fish have been caught off the coast of nearby Point Pelee National Park, Rondeau Provincial Park and elsewhere in Canadian waters. There are breeding populations of grass carp on the American side of Lake Erie. But collaboration between American and Canadian governments, research institutions and local communities have kept the species from gaining a strategic foothold."

Matt McIntosh reports for The Narwhal November 18, 2024.

Source: The Narwhal, 11/19/2024