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Re: NFC: Exotic crayfish

Nothing more I like to see than a good hard freeze in Central Florida and
thousands of dead tilaplia, pleco, hoplosternum and other assorted dumped
fish in the local rivers and lakes.

2 months ago I caught a guy red handed trying to dump 2 large Jack Dempseys
into a local pond where I collect.  I challenged the man with his logic (and
not to mention a threat to call to DEP) and he gave me the fish to take
home.

All too often we see this, Oscar are listed as a game fish in Florida... I
read a report on a canal in the Everglades region where 75% of the total
biomass in said canal was Oscar. Can you imagine that?  From phytoplankton
to top of the foodchain 75%!! You could walk on them!  I was on a wetland
down in Dade County not to long ago and saw iguana, frilled lizards, some
kinda small green parrots and all kinda exotic plants taking a "mitigation
site" over.  Its a constant battle.

I tell the people that buy exotics from me, when the novelty of the item
wears off, put it in a plastic bag....place it in the freezer overnight....
then let it sit in the garbage can a few days to make sure it is good and
dead.(works well on fish).....

Heck we got a chemical resistant strain of hydrilla in Central Florida...
SONAR, diquat, hydrothol, aquathol, 2,4,D Ester, Copper sulfate, and the
like doesnt phase it at the legal maximum applied limits in bodies of
water.... What's the states answer? Biological control... What is that
control?Triploid Grass Carp (they break noses really easy too)... And the
triploid is only as good as the person testing the fish.... So odds have it
that a few diploids make it into the ecosystem (not to mention it is a
business and some folks sell diploids or whatever to make that profit....)
Wammo.... we got another problem!  Better yet... Release a beetle or fly....
again another exotic to control an exotic...

So whats the final answer here?

If you seem em, squish em, zap em, nuke em, cook em.....

Chris
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