Study: Asian carp could find plenty of food in Lake Michigan
Source: Associated Press
Study: Asian carp could find plenty of food in Lake Michigan
By JOHN FLESHER
August 12, 2019
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Asian carp are likely to find enough food to spread farther if they establish breeding populations in Lake Michigan, reinforcing the importance of preventing the invasive fish from gaining a foothold, scientists said in a paper released Monday.
A study led by University of Michigan researchers found that despite a drop-off in plankton, the tiny plants and animals on which bighead and silver carp typically feed, the lake has enough dietary options to sustain individual fish that venture away from nutrient-rich shoreline areas where most would congregate.
That improves their prospects for colonizing large sections of Lake Michigan and eventually spreading to the other Great Lakes, said Peter Alsip, an ecological modeling data analyst and lead author of the paper published in the journal Freshwater Biology.
“Our study indicates that the carp can survive and grow in much larger areas of the lake than previous studies suggested,” Alsip said.
Asian carp were imported in the late 1960s to gobble up algae in Deep South sewage lagoons and fish farms. They escaped into the Mississippi River and have migrated northward, branching into dozens of tributaries.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/d44c3701de7847bea3b7218e1f3d3fc8
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Related: Lake Michigan's suitability for bigheaded carp: The importance of diet flexibility and subsurface habitat (Freshwater Biology)
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