I guess it just depends on who�s ox is being gored� Fishmen had better pay attention�

A quick review of current posting on this forums are: Open Freshwater Discussion has, �TPW Finds Zebra Mussels at Texoma and Lavon � and the Freshwater Fly Fishing has the posting, �Zebra Mussels Spreading in Texas�

Let�s see we�ve got: Zebra mussels, White Amur (Grass Carp), Mirror and a host of other carp species, Snake Heads, Lake Trout in Yellowstone Lake, Apple Snails in south Louisiana (thanks Walmart!), Rio�s in New Orleans, Hydrilla, Giant Salvinia, rock snot running coldwater streams across this country, and a host of other invasive species infesting and diminishing our waters.

I guess that guys who like to introduce new species to native US waters all think that they know what�s best for us all and/or know that these species could NEVER leave their property and invade the waters downstream�.. Just those Brazilian entomologists thought that they could manage Africanized Bees (Killer Bees)!!!!

But this forum also has links to forum member�s web sites that promote the introduction of Invasive species into the waters of Texas!!!!

Thanks to guys like Meadowlark, http://www.meadowlarkponds.com things will just keep getting worse� His web site discusses his �successes� with invasives like White Amur, Rios, Tilapia, and Pacu.

He excuses his actions with the statement the Texas Parks and Wildlife allow citizens of Texas to introduce invasive species. Just because the IDIOTS at TP&W allow such actions, doesn�t make the actions any less destructive! Nor does it mean that the the rest of us fishermen our kids / grandkids / and generations to come � forever, who live downstream of the tanks and ponds owned by the guys who like to introduce invasives, won�t curse the name of those guys who screw up our ecology forever! After all, don't we all think fondly of the idiots that brought us Giant Savinia, nutria, Johnson grass or water hyacinths?

Remember that after all the assurances from the states in the Midwest that White Amur would never become established in the rivers of the United States, White Amur ARE established in through the rivers and swamps and marshes of south Louisiana. It�s not like Louisiana wasn�t already losing 30+ square miles of marsh per year without these fish eating up the vegetation that hold their fragile ecosystem together� White Amur won't be benefical to Texas marshes either!

When Rios are introduced to southern waters, they have been proven to be a high invasive species that displaces native fish species, just go to New Orleans� While the Louisiana Wild life and Fisheries is currently spending a fortune in an attempt to eliminate a small population of Rios in Plaquemines parish (i.e. south of New Orleans), it's hard to believe that people are actually being allowed to introduce Rios to ponds in east Texas!!!! Cuz' we all KNOW that those fish will NEVER leave those ponds�

The Pacu, that Meadowlark loves because they �clean up� the bottom of his ponds, will destroy ecosystems in east Texas and Louisiana! Cleaning up our ponds, lakes, streams. Another benifical addition to our waters... Thanks a lot!!

And just look at his web site's glowing description of Tilapia: �Three (3) pounds of Tilapia were stocked (just for the heck of it) on April 1. Results-Again, the results were remarkable. The alga was completely eliminated and the pond had a freshly cleaned look. The Tilapia did not grow to the sizes seen in the other ponds but exploded in population with numerous 4 to 6 inch fish.
The pond looks so great that now I'm considering making it a catfish pond for food, fun, and grandkids.�

Hooh Ray!! Just for the heck of it! Everyone downstream of your ranch will just LOVE to see the vegetation in their native waters eliminated!!! As will all of our grandkids!!

And yes, I know that people all over Texas have introduced Tilapia to tanks and pods� but that doesn�t make it right to keep increasing the spread!

Yes, fishing isn�t what it was when I was a kid, nor will it be like it is now for our grandkids�

Unfortunately, too many of us fishermen are our own worst enemies�.

Sorry to go on but ��

Don't forget the pleco catfish.

The Tilapia Meadowlark stock die off every year at 55 degreese.

Looks like you have the bone to pick with TPWD. They are doing everything possible to controll all this stuff, and they had nothing to do with zebra mussels, giant salvinia, snakeheads and etc..
"the IDIOTS at TP&W allow such actions"
What are your qualifications to label them such. I'd guess a doctorate in wildlife biology.

Depending on your age about fishing when you were a kid, I guess that depends on how old you are. I'm sixty-one and its better than ever. No fishing isn't as good as it was when you were a kid it's much better thanks to TPWD stocking of hybrids stripers, hybrid lmb, and everything else they do every year. They spend millions of dollars making fishing in Texas the best around. people come from all over the world to fish here.
Wipe the egg off your face and get down off your soap box with five posts.

Well.... The idioits at TPWD DID allow the overstocking of grass carp on Conroe...

+1

I based my statements on these postings of the website cited above:

�In an effort to enhance the forage fish, an experiment entitled, "Redneck Aquaculture", is currently in progress. The purpose of this experiment is to develop methods for over wintering and growing out fish for later introduction into the ponds. Tilapia, Pacu, and Texas Rio's are the focus of this initial experiment. The progress of this experiment, so named for the fish tank shown below (making positive use out of something no longer being used, Redneck Aquaculture), will be documented herein periodically.�

The web site goes on to state: �On Meadowlark Ranch, the red-bellied Pacu is being evaluated as a potential Grass Carp replacement. Just like Tialpia, the Pacu will not survive the East Texas winters. Hence, they offer minimal risk of adverse stocking consequences. On the plus side, their ability to eat copious vegetation, grow rapidly, and offer fishing excitement makes them an interesting pond fish to study. The approach to utilizing this fish on Meadowlark Ranch will be just like Tilapia�i.e. grow them over the winter to a suitable stocking size and release them in ponds when the weather warms�. Pacus are mainly vegetarians that will adapt to eat almost anything.�

�Texas Rio's, a fish native to Texas hill country, is currently under evaluation for stocking in one of the ponds. �

�In Texas, it is legal to stock Mozambique Tilapia, in private waters.�

And No, I do not differentiate between the introduction of proven invasive species in a �colder� area of a very large drainage system which also has �warmer areas�, when history has repeated shown that FISH MOVE with flowing waters� Eventually moving from east Texas down to the warmer waters in the semitropical southern end of that same river system, i.e. the Louisiana or Texas Coast! Oh yeah, understand that RIOs have survived in the waters of New Orleans for years, even through winters supposed enough to have killed them all! Rios even survived and expanded their territory following the flooding of Katrina!

Oh, by the way, Rios HAVE become established in the brackish waters of Lake Pontchartrain (i.e. next to New Orleans). If they can spread through brackish waters in Louisiana, they can do the same in southeastern Texas, which substantially increases the likely hood of expansion into surrounding freshwater environs (i.e. rivers and marshes).

I�m 57 and the two lakes that I grew up fishing are now choked to death with giant salvinia, and some of my favorite rivers are full of multiple species of exotic carp� Just last week a friend had a 10 lb.er jump in his boat as he rode down the river in his bass boat � Luckily he wasn�t hit...

As far as TP&W is concerned, I understand that they do fantastic work and are great people, but does it take a PhD to ask, �How can an agency working so hard to stop certain invasive aquatic species in the state of Texas allow the introduction and spread of other proven invasive species?

So, no egg� and no apologies�

I still think no one should bitch or complain without
1 year registered and 500 posts.

MO

What about a stocked tank pond? One with no entrance and no exit (i.e. creek channels)...

You still run the risk of fry and eggs of species surving a flight from a bird from one body of water to another, then another, then another and so on. Ever wonder how a highway drainage pond that nobody stocked all of a sudden had bullheads and other species in it? No I'm NOT hollerin the dayum sky is fallen either. But people take for granite the GRAND consequences when they are tucked away many miles from a creek, river, lake, marsh.


Rob

+1

can i bitch and complain yet??? I have 1600 posts, but have only been here 11 months....