Asian carp, an invasive species in northern Illinois, may be declining. That eases the concern of them spreading into the Great Lakes.
But the area’s not out of the woods yet.
Matt O’Hara, an Asian carp project leader for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, says the carp can ruin the ecosystems in the Illinois River and its tributaries. That’s because they eat the same food that other native species – such as big-mouth bass – live on.
“By removing those fish, you’re actually helping out the native species in a lot of ways, allowing them to have those resources that they – the Asian carp – might be eating,” O’Hara said.
Asian carp weigh about eight pounds each on average. Not only are they a threat to the native ecosystem, but if a fish that big can jump onto a boat, it can become a problem for anyone operating one.
“They’re a nuisance, and they jump, and they can injure people as they jump in their boats and possibly could inflict some kind of harm on a recreational boater or fisherman or something like that,” O’Hara said.
O’Hara says there are four different types of Asian carp to worry about in the state. Not only do the silver carp jump from the water, but they are also the most elusive to catch for commercial fishermen because they can evade nets more easily than the others.
O’Hara says about a quarter million Asian carp – which is about three million pounds of fish – were caught since 2010.
O’Hara says the natural resources department hires fishermen to efficiently catch only the carp. Only about one or two percent of game fish get caught in the process – when that happens, they are released.
All of the Asian carp caught by those fishermen are given to a fishery in Thomson for free. For the most part, the fish are used as liquid, organic fertilizer.
None of the carp north of Starved Rock have successfully reproduced recently. However, O'Hara says young fish have been spotted in southern Illinois.
