Greg, I don't get you at all. This mess was NOT caused by nature. It was caused by idiots importing a fish that has NO natural predators in North American. Those fish were then put into areas that were prone to flooding and, when they did flood, escaped.
What part do you don't get?
The part that we have too much government control over private lands or the part that we have created a bureaucracy within these government agencies that prevent us from responding to a problem?
Or is it the idea that we can not control nature?
Too bad you have a liberal mindset that we have to "restore" things that we neither created or control. We can damage and restore the things we damage but man is part of nature and fish are too but we tend to forget that. When an indigenous animal kills off another indigenous species, I hear how this is justified but when man kills something off, it is a bad thing.
How?
I learned recently the amount of tax money spent on a project in the south that "restored" the proper Eagle to their original habitat which brings up the question of who figured out what went on when nature put those types of Eagles into that area?
In order to do this, another animal - pigs - were wholesale slughtered and left to rot, the existing Eagles were removed by different means and others were "reintroduced". Mind you that the pigs were introduced to the area 200 years ago and became part of the natural balance while the Eagles that displaced the originals ones came in something like 100 years ago. Which I guess Eagles live to be over 150 years old because those new ones never knew of that place until MAN put them there.
Don't worry, your tax dollars won't be spent to fix this. Those of us who care about our lakes and rivers will foot the bill as we always have.
Guess what, our tax money is spent on this and other 'projects' but not wisely. The amount of tax money just in research to discover the carp are a fish is amazing - you should look into it. Another large amount of money was spent to figure out the commercial value of the fish which if the researcher were smart enough, they would have hired 200 people to go fishing for the thing and read wikipedia to learn that the Asians already have industries built around the fish.
A fishing license is required because OTHER more important game fish or native species can and will be caught while fishing for ANY carp.
I think of it this way - who cares?
I mean if we are concern with a predatory fish wiping out other species in the lakes, then really who cares what gets caught in order to wipe out the carp.
I know that sounds horrible, but it isn't because ...
It is a case of losing the fish now or later.
We can restock the fish at a less expense rate than trying to kill off the carp and at the same time killing everything else off with chemicals or other means but I know many can't see it that way.
I heard the DNR and state people would lose so much money if they had open fishing and do not even think about it but than that is an issue of money as it has been with the DNR for a long time.
With that said, we have faced serious issues in the past and no one seems to get that we have used restocking projects to improve stock in the lakes before this time there would have to be a moratorium on fishing until the fish stocks grow enough to handle fishing.
I wonder one thing, why do we need to get a fishing license in the first place?
I keep hearing how the revenue is needed to support the fishing programs that maintain the fish in the lakes but didn't nature gave a way for the fish to breed? I don't see any need for the DNR unless we are using artificial insemination with the fishies or are we providing them little fish sex education booklets to learn from?
There is NO limit on ANY carp, never has been. I don't get harassed by the DNR. I rarely even have my license checked when fishing. I wish they would check more often. Tired on poachers messing things up out there.
Well it is the license thing to begin with, many do not fish because of it - sorry but that's the truth.
As for poachers, well if i am on my land and hunting what's there, my property rights overshadow any and all laws because that is my right to own land. Outside of that, if someone is killing an animal on state or public land or on land without permission, then that's poaching.
I get checked when I am with my truck on my own land, I get harassed when I am there during any hunting season and I get tired of explaining to the browned uniformed stormtrooper that I am not hunting and he may not look into my truck for reason - I usually lose that argument. So you may be special but a lot of people I know deal with the same BS as I do and we get tired of it.
Bounties won't help. It MAY be a good idea to have welfare people working in the spring when carp spawn. They could be working traps, killing fish, etc. THEN would be getting something for the money we are paying out. A win, win, so to speak.
Well it is a combination that is needed, no license and a bounty - one that allows you to keep the fish. You do know that it has a commercial purpose?
IF you doubt any of my statements I will be MORE than happy to put you in touch with some fish biologists who know their stuff. They can set you on the straight and narrow.
I don't need to talk to a fish anything, nature is nature, it is something we do not have control over and have to learn that face. No one can explain to me or anyone else who man can create a fish and have control over where that fish lands on earth. Nor can they explain to me how to talk to the fish to tell them they are not welcomed.
Just what we need. MORE damage.
