$800 million obstacle course fish zapper

The US government deterrent to keep Asian Carp from getting to Lake Michigan from the Illinois river includes tazers and bubbles.
newtboysays...

There’s a HUGE hole in this multi layered fish net....ballast tanks.

Most invasive marine species are transported by shipping vessels that use massive tanks inside the hull to balance and stabilize the ship. They suck in or release water when they’re loaded and unloaded. These expensive fish deterrents do nothing to stop fish hitching a ride. It will only take one female and one male, or one clutch of fertilized eggs to make all these efforts moot.

There is little chance any amount of engineering will stop them.

eric3579says...

From my googling seems there is a good amount of US law that has to do with ballast water and invasive species. It's quite possible this is a non issue or one that has been addressed. I do however assume it's just a matter of time as mother nature is a persistent mother fucker. She always finds a way.

newtboysaid:

There’s a HUGE hole in this multi layered fish net....ballast tanks.
...

There is little chance any amount of engineering will stop them.

newtboysays...

Yes there are many laws governing ballast water, but sometimes they are not followed or enforced. It only takes one vessel not following the law or not doing upkeep on their systems or even wrecking or leaking for an invasive species to hitch a ride. It may be rare, but it only takes once, and assuming every captain follows the law is a bad move, especially when it costs them money to do things right.

eric3579said:

From my googling seems there is a good amount of US law that has to do with ballast water and invasive species. It's quite possible this is a non issue or ones that has been addressed.

eric3579says...

I guess my point is, is that ballast tanks are not an issue this fish net is trying to address. From what this video shows, it's exclusively about fish swimming in from this particular river.

newtboysaid:

There’s a HUGE hole in this multi layered fish net....ballast tanks.

newtboysays...

Technically no, it's not about ballast tanks, but in a larger sense it's about stopping the spread of the carp. I'm just pointing out that no matter how well they block the river, there are other ways the fish can enter the lakes.
Also, as the video indicated, the methods have already failed since they've found the fish in the river past all the barricades.
I wonder what they've done to stop flooding from bypassing the barricades altogether.

I've been interested in this issue for decades, ever since the earlier videos of jumping fish smacking boaters started showing up. These days they allow electric fishing and other ecologically unfriendly methods in a last ditch effort to slow the spread, and none of it's working. If only someone would open a fish emulsion factory and make catching them an economically viable industry, maybe progress would be made....or not.

eric3579said:

I guess my point is, is that ballast tanks are not an issue this fish net is trying to address. From what this video shows, it's exclusively about fish swimming in from this particular river.

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