By Potts50:
Well now I just have to rant!
Here are some Nile Perch facts
"Reproduction
Free spawning over shallow sheltered areas, all the year round with peaks in rainy season.
Up to 16 million eggs per breeding cycle.
"Nutrition
Large predator, feeding in Lake Victoria on haplochromine cichlids, the zooplanktivorous cyprinid Rastrineobola argentea, the prawn Caridina nilotica and juvenile Nile perch (cannibalism). Young stages feed on invertebrates.
"Geographical range
Native range: Native to the Nile system, Lake Mariout, and most major West African river systems, from the Senegal to the Cross; also present in the Zaire system and lakes Albert, Turkana and several lakes in the Ethiopian highlands.
Known introduced range: Introduced in Lakes Kyoga, Nabugabo and Victoria in East Africa. Occuring in all depth zones; less abundant in littoral rocky habitats and oxygen-poor conditions. Also reported to be introduced from Sudan to Congo and from Ethiopia to Cuba and possibly established in the wild; also from Mali to Morocco and from Africa to Texas (USA), both apparently without establishing populations in the wild (yet).
"General impacts
The Nile perch is responsible through predation and competition for food for the decimation and possible disappearance of two hundred or more species of the unique flock of endemic haplochromine cichlids in Lake Victoria.
This species has been nominated as among 100 of the "World's Worst" invaders.."
Source;
http://www.issg.org/database/species...si=89&fr=1&sts
Now I know that Kolivera will be upset with me for disrupting his thread but there is some history here as to why I have a problem with people trading this fish.
In the early 1980's catfish was becoming a popular fish in the aquaculture industry in the southern US. There was some concern about water quality due to the feeding habits of catfish and the practice of introducing fertilizer to grow out ponds. The US Dept of Agriculture encouraged the culture of Asian Carp in these ponds to help control the plankton blooms and provide a complimentary species for sale in the domestic fish market.
The following article is available on there website...
American Fish Farmers Could ?Clean Up? with Chinese Carp
By Sandy Hays
February 3, 1997
American fish farmers could ?clean up? with Chinese carp, in more ways than one.
Chinese carp is a big seller in Europe and Asia, and a hit in the United States? ethnic markets. But the carp?s extremely bony body has kept it off most menus here.
Scientists with USDA?s Agricultural Research Service say canned carp is the answer. Their tests show canning softens the bones, just like salmon, giving fish farmers a brand-new product with an extended shelf life. In taste tests in Arkansas and England, participants praised canned carp?s flavor and said they?d pay at least as much for that product as for tuna.
Chinese carp makes a tidy pond-mate, too, because its favorite food is plankton that flourishes in water where catfish dwell. In fact, the carp won?t even compete for food put into the ponds for other fish, the scientists say. But its growth rate is about four times that of catfish, and a Chinese carp can tip the scales at 6 pounds in a year.
Health-conscious consumers should be pleased with carp: It?s less than 2 percent fat and about 40 percent of those fats are the desirable omega-3 acids linked in some studies to reduced heart disease. It?s also loaded with calcium and protein..."
So who is Sandy Hays....
http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/contacts.htm#Sandy
He might want to make a retraction. A lot of fish farmers took his advice.
Unfortunately some levees broke on the Mississipi river and these fish were released into the wild. The US government now has a very differant perspective on Asian Carp:
http://www.umesc.usgs.gov/reports_pu...r_2000_05.html
You may feel that this is no big deal and that these invaders wont have much impact on the river systems but watch this video if you have'nt seen it already..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuTZFm9tjvs
In some reaches of the river these fish make up over 90% of the fish biomass. They eat plankton and essentially cut off the food web at the very bottom, preventing nearly every other (native) fish species from feeding.
Its only a matter of years befiore these fish make it into the great lakes and the western praire river systems here in Canada. The loss of billions of dollars in sport fishing tourism alone, is at stake. The aquatic environment as we know it is virtually beyond hope of inevitable destruction because of an innocent mistake and the introduction of a foreign invasive species. I'm certain I wont live to see things return to normal with this screw-up!
So what does this have to do with Nile Perch. They are in the opinion of the writer no less dangerous a species even though less tolerant of cold water than Asian Carp. They will find their way into US lakes and rivers and no doubt have a traumatic impact- Unless your an avid fisherman...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fq6QmEsC49E
http://www.african-angler.co.uk/fishing.html
Evey cloud has a silver lining I guess but what are we prepared to give up? How responsible are we as hobbyists, and can we guarantee that we will do no harm in our pursuit of monster fish keeping? Can we hold back the river when the Army Corp of Engineers can't?
I apologise again to Koliveira for railroading his thread. He just wants to sell a fish and is clearly a responsible guy who would never give the fish to someone who didnt know what they were getting. But on the other hand, nobody thought the levees on the Mississipi river would break, did they? Or at least I'll wager that Sandy Hays sure didnt!