An effort to halt Black Carp expansion results in a staggering amount of Asian Carp being caught in the Illinois River.
Asian carp have become very infamous, as they are a very nasty and invasive species of fish. And if you have ever been on the Illinois River, or any Midwest river, you know they are thick as they eject from the waters surface as a boat motor passes.
Thick as in, the population is almost out of control. So much that the Illinois Department of Natural Resources effort to halt the expansion of Black Carp resulted in catching over 70,000 pounds of Asian Carp! In just a three week time span. 70,230 pounds to be exact, which is mind boggling.
Wrap your mind around that for a second. 70,000 pounds of fish is equivalent to almost six elephants. Or 511 humans. Moral of the story, that is a ton of stinking fish.
The crazy part is that IDNR contracted out commercial fisherman to deploy a series of large hoop nets throughout the Illinois River in attempt to catch Black Carp specifically, not Asian Carp. Focusing on the Starved Rock and Marseilles Pools of the river after inclinations that Black Carp were expanding their range upstream and they didn't record one catch of the Black Carp species.
But because of the timing of the year and incredible spawning conditions, they helped removed a substantial amount of Asian Carp, which is a job well done any day of the week for the IDNR.
Many efforts have been put in place to diminish the damage that these fish cause, so the IDNR is very pleased with the outcome, especially since it wasn't even the focus of the program.
70,239 pounds. Holy smokes, that is a lot of fish.
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