the good non-natives

[jamaldog87]

i always hear people talking about how bad these non-native fish are in our waters. Well i live in FL and we have lots of these fish and most have shown to be harmless in FL waters. the GRASS CARP,Blue tilapia , WALKING CATFISH, blue cat,BUTTERFLY PEACOCK,OSCAR, carp,CICHLIDs of all kinds ,SAILFIN CATFISH ,CLOWN KNIFEFISH all have done nothing in the waters they live in. I have land large mouth bass and tliapia in the same water and they both are doing very well. Some like the snake head and AFRICAN TIGERFISH or other large and tooth fish have kill off everything in there waters but these big fish are easy to get rid of here. I love these fish becuase in just about all the waters that they are found here there are no other fish becuase the water is so bad no fish from the US even catfish could live in there but these fish live and get large there.  If these fish were stock other place i would say yeah but make sure that there no bass in there bacause it seems that bass and some non-native don' get a long.

[corbanzo]

I dont like non-natives, at all.   You think they are all right, but then if they move to a different nearby water system and cause all types of havoc. 

The thing is that our main invasive species up here is northern pike, and they just come in and eat everything, including trout and salmon, can ruin a water system. 

Another one that we have is atlantic salmon, they escape from the hatcheries in canada (in us waters raising non-native species is illegal) and then run up some of the streams, even 2000 miles away.  they can interbreed and lower the quality of the fish, and be a competitor for food sources.

In europe they have this problem with pink salmon, where farmed pink salmon are mixing with the atlantic salmon, but the atlantics there are multi year runners, and the pinks are only one year runners, so mixing in the pinks takes away the ability to run multiple years and lowers the population. 

[Ratltrap]

...... in the waters that they are found here there are no other fish becuase the water is so bad no fish from the US even catfish could live in there but these fish live and get large there.  .......

I gotta wonder what they eat to get so big if nothing else lives there?

[jamaldog87]

i think it's all the water plants and stuff because i have seen some ponds and lake over grown with that stuff.

[rockbilly]

Back in the mid seventies Texas Parks and Wildlife stocked grass carp in a couple of lakes to control vegetation.  The fish did their job very well, Canyon Lake had ALL vegetation removed by the fish, they even removed most of the vegetation along the banks as much as four feet from the water line.  This had a major effect on the the bass population, and size.  By removing the vegetation, most cove was removed.  As a result, there were no hiding places for fingerling's and bait fish.  It almost took a law suit from members of Texas Association of Bass Clubs to force Parks and Wildlife to shock the lake and remove the grass carp.  Once they were gone the lake recovered and turned into a productive piece of water.

Other than what I have read I can't speak from experience on Florida waters, I do (have) fished the Big O for several years.  In talking to the guides there, the non-native fish do have a major impact on certain species of native fish.  As I understand, the "walking Catfish" is a real menace to Florida waters, and thousands of dollars are spent each year trying to keep them under control, or rid the state of them. 

Bottom line.  Many states are suffering from marine or animal life that is not natural to the region.  Look at the number of different snakes that roam freely and are not native to Florida.  Here in Texas we have many species of animals that compete with native game for food and range, this does effect the native game numbers.

I think a talk with a local game management biologist would change your mind, and you would see clearly that non-natives do hurt native species.