Florida poisons entire pond on purpose...

[jay2487]

I live by a park called Edward Medard that is recently repairing a Dam, so they are draining the entire resoivor and then pouring poison into all the surviving deep holes to kill every last Plecossamus. I guess they are really overcrowded and they need a new dam so two birds with one stone. The draining alone will end up displacing 1000's of Gators and other wildlife and I can't imagine what will happen to all the fish but the ones that go to the deepest holes seeking refuge will be poisoned. Sad really

[Kazenouta]

Yeah, this is pretty terribly. I'll never understand why we feel it's our right to choose who lives and who dies in the animal kingdom

[jay2487]

and not like there threatening our lives or hurting anything. I remember when I was a boy they added plecos to that resorvoir to keep the boat ramps clean because someone slipped and fell. 15 years later and there trying to kill them all because of overpopulation. The pirhanas I can sort of understand but plecos!? What can they possibly do? They eat algae not food fish. Worst case scenario they suck up a few eggs but because fishermen don't want to fish for bass and catch a pleco they are killing them all. When if it wasn't for some sue happy old man busting his butt on a boat ramp they wouldn't be there to begin with.

[annageckos]

Plecos and pirhana and many many other fish are not native to these ecosystems. They can do consiterable amont of damage and outcompete native wildlife. They can carry disease and eat a native animals food sorce, pushing it out and killing it off. I understand and agree that they need to go. But the way that they do it... Is there a better way? I don't know, my guess is yes, but I don't know what it is. Now what I don't agree with is that they (fish and game people, goverment) stock non native animals all the time. Bass and trout where they never where before, peacock bass and I am sure others too. They stock all types of gamebirds, pheasants are not native, but that is getting off the subject. These fish they killed, where they even pirhana? Or where they pacu? I didn't see a pic so I don't know. I saw an other news story where northern pike where interduced to a lake system. Well the people where very upset because the pike(not native) where eating the trout(also not native) So they poisoned the lake to kill the pike so that they could restock a non native animal. It just doen't make sence to me.

[jay2487]

They were real pirhanas. Theres a link to the article with a few pics. As I understand it they found two so that's enough to poison several acres of water. They brought the plecos in too.

[Kazenouta]

Yeah, I guess in this case it's tough. The fact is these species weren't supposed to be in these bodies of water so, what can you do to preserve the ecosystem besides "wipe the slate clean" as someone had mentioned.

[jay2487]

What you can do is not introduce them in the first place, it's not like some bird toted the pirhanas from south america and dropped them in a Florida pond. Some ignorant aquarist bought them and then thought it would be a good ides to toss them out in a pond or lake or river when they became a problem. Nothing but human error resulting in millions of animal deaths

[tetra]

Theres a pond hair that some one put koi in it. I looked for it but couldnt find it. I wanted to catch a few for my manmade pond so i dont pay outragous price.

[annageckos]

Sure, the best thing to do is not release them in the first place. But many people don't care or don't know. Many don't care to know. But people will always do this. It is a shame. And it hurts responcible fish keepers. Look at snakeheads. They where released not by a fish keeper but by someone that in their culture releasing a pair brought luck(or something like that). Also some got away from a person selling for the food market. People paniced and the gov. banned all snakeheads everywhere when there are many small tropical species that could not survive in cool climates. Pirhana will be baned one day out of fear. As for the pics on that site I don't think they where actual pics of the fish they got, just genrule pics of pirhana. So many times I see articals on "pirhana" being caught and the pics clearly show a pacu. Many people, even people who should know better, don't.

[little hawaii]

I live by a park called Edward Medard that is recently repairing a Dam, so they are draining the entire resoivor and then pouring poison into all the surviving deep holes to kill every last Plecossamus. I guess they are really overcrowded and they need a new dam so two birds with one stone. The draining alone will end up displacing 1000's of Gators and other wildlife and I can't imagine what will happen to all the fish but the ones that go to the deepest holes seeking refuge will be poisoned. Sad really

It makes me sick, althuogh man is the sadist, sickest animal of all. Where is wisdom?