Bighead Silver: Lake Michigan and Michigan Researchers

bighead silver: Our study indicates that the carp can survive and grow in much larger areas of the lake than previous studies suggested, Alsip said, according to The Japan Times. Asian carp were imported in the late 1960s to gobble up algae in Deep South sewage lagoons and fish farms. A study led by University of Michigan researchers found that despite a drop-off in plankton, the tiny plants and animals on which bighead and silver carp typically feed, the lake has enough dietary options to sustain individual fish that venture away from nutrient-rich shoreline areas where most would congregate. ; That improves their prospects for colonizing large sections of Lake Michigan and eventually spreading to the other Great Lakes, said Peter Alsip, an ecological modeling data analyst and lead author of the paper published in the journal Freshwater Biology. They escaped into the Mississippi River and have migrated northward, branching into dozens of tributaries. They have become the primary fish species in the Illinois River, which forms part of an aquatic pathway that leads to Lake Michigan through a Chicago-area network of rivers and canals. Prolific breeders and voracious eaters, the invaders compete with native fish for food and habitat. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.