A couple of fishers in the Lanaudiere region caught a surprise last week when they reeled in a 29-kilogram Asian carp.
It’s the first to be found in the St. Lawrence River and could be disastrous for native fish populations.
Biologists and commercial fishers are concerned because the Asian carp is a highly invasive fish.
The one-metre long female grass carp is one of five Asian carp species. It has the ability to reproduce quickly and can eat up to 20 per cent of its body weight in plankton.
If they establish a breeding population, they're nearly impossible to eradicate.
Asian carp could substantially reduce wetlands, altering the habitat of local fish populations by eating vegetation that act as nursing areas and shelter for other fish species.
Biologists say the fish that was caught is probably between 15 and 30 years old.
“They could perhaps have come from upstream, from the Great Lakes. They could have been dumped by someone who wanted to release a live one for whatever reason. They could have been released a long time ago in a bait-bucket dumping because very small juvenile Asian carp can look like minnows,” said McGill University biology professor Anthony Ricciardi.
Ricciardi doesn't think there's currently a population of grass carp in the St. Lawrence River, but said there are likely others.
These fish have been a major problem in areas of the U.S. and have been discovered in a small section of Lake Erie and near Toronto.
Quebec's Forests, Wildlife and Parks Ministry is acting fast to prevent the problem, by
spending $1.7 million over three years to detect the carp and to educate commercial fishers.
