Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Court decision on the Asian Carp in the US

It was reported in yesterday's papers that a Court in the US will decide on whether to allow an introduced species of river fish - the Asian Carp - to 'move' into Lake Michigan. The Asian carp is a predator. It is an introduced species and therefore there are no other fish in the rivers that will feed on it, allowing the species to grow in numbers and practically decimate the natural species in the rivers. The fish can grow to almost 100lbs. It's big.

A similar story is found in our Malaysian rivers, with the South American arapiama invading our natural waters after some previous owners didn't want to keep them as a pet anymore. That fish can grow up to 30 feet in size. The 'monster' reportedly spotted in Tasik Temenggor was alleged to have cause the death of 2 fishermen - knocked off the boat and drowned.


Then there is the flowerhorn fish, that owners kept and bred for a while for good luck but then threw them in the waterways after getting bored of them. Another introduced / exotic species that are now king of many waterways killing the natural fishes in its domain....

Many more examples why we should be careful what we put into the rivers of Tanarimba.

...and this story can be expanded to the type of trees, the pets that we bring with us etc to the still balanced and sensitive eco-system that exist in Tanarimba.


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