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Feds are releasing alligator gar to combat asian carp

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  • FrommerStop

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    The Alligator Gar
    I hope it works out as they say it will: Huge, Toothy Fish Seen as Weapon vs. Asian Carp

    Biologists are reintroducing a toothy monster to waterways throughout the middle of the country, hoping the alligator gar _ a giant fish once driven to extinction in much of its historic range _ can help control invasive Asian carp. (July 29)
    Not all agree: Alligator Gar Not Effective Weapon Against Asian Carp, Says Biologist
    Dan Stephenson, a longtime biologist and chief of fisheries at the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. That's the state agency that’s reintroducing the once-extinct alligator gar into Illinois’ waterways.

    “We’re just trying to bring back an extirpated species, a native fish that was here once and we’d like to have them back,” Stephenson said. “There was never a thought in our minds at all about any kind of control on Asian carp.”

    For one thing, Stephenson said, alligator gar are vastly outnumbered. Between 2010 and 2013, his team reintroduced nearly 6,000 young alligator gar into central and southern Illinois waterways, and plans to continue the project later this year. That sounds like a lot, but it's really no match for the burgeoning population of Asian carp, which is already established in the Mississippi and Illinois River basins.

    “When we’re talking about Asian carp, we’re talking about tons of fish per river mile in all the rivers and streams in the state and we have thousands of miles of rivers and streams,” Stephenson said. “There’s maybe one or two alligator gar in a handful of streams in the state. There’s just no way a handful of fish can have any impact on tons and tons of Asian carp. https://news.wttw.com/2016/08/03/al...tive-weapon-against-asian-carp-says-biologist

     
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