Shea Thomas
Straub
Economics, B3
January 6, 2015
Economy vs. Alien Fish
There is something lurking in the woods, the lakes, crawling into the country unstopped by any borders. It is invasive species! Many people have heard of at least one of these species, Asian carp, you’ve seen the videos of these fish jumping right out of the water as boat go by (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdcQ56OpxNE), some even ending up in the boat.
Easy fishing, and carp is edible, as the fish is eaten in european and asian and even parts of the U.S, so the fish should add profit, and should create a new market for fishermen that what a show and a large amount of fish. That is false because carp are bottom feeders and if they grow up in polluted rivers will taste awful, it definitely doesn’t help that, while they are large in numbers, they are not an easy catch, and when they jump out of water have been known to hit people in the head. Not to say all carp is bad, there are many positive externalities with the carp that many people eat and live here naturally, the negative externalities come from Asian carp; meaning the bighead carp, the black carp, the grass carp, and the silver carp. These four fish were introduced to the U.S. in hope that they would help control weeds and parasites in fish farms, sadly this backfired because these fish escaped to the wild by jumping over low dams and swimming out during floods. After they escaped they began to out-compete other fish, driving out native species. “Experts are worriedthat if these fish get into the Great Lakes, they may negatively affect the area's $7 billion/year fishing industry” but even if the great lakes stay carp free “ 31 states and 40% of the continental United States“ will have these fish invade their waterways and can cause an economic contraction.
Of course carp aren’t the only problematic fish that has crossed into our country, heading down south to the land of sunshine, to find a monster living in it’s waters. Snakeheads, not only are these fish odd balls but horrific too (this video is not for the weak of heart or animal lovers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_BwXjegQVc).
There are plenty of invasive species of reptiles in Florida, but none can really compare to these fish, not in danger leaves, but in stop them. Snakehead has an odd ability that they can walk on land to other water sources, the fish is mainly harmless at these time, and due to the large amounts of ponds located in the state these fish have lots of places to go. The reason that they are a problem is that one, people don’t really eat them, and two, they have attacked people before. These little monsters are extremely territorial and will attack if threaten, this has caused fear and panic for people and made this animal into a horror show.Why does this matter, though?
The reason that this little fish matters is due to costs it has on the environment and economy, these animals have no natural predators here and, as mentioned before, will attack other animals no matter their size or looks. These puts a damper on the economy because it costs people money to get rid of fish, get patched up if hurt by a snakehead, a majority of americans don’t even eat snakeheads, leaving this fish to to have no economic benefits whatsoever.
Work Cited:
- "The Northern Snakehead: An Invasive Fish Species." The Northern Snakehead: An Invasive Fish Species. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.
- United States. National Park Service. "Asian Carp Overview." National Parks Service. U.S. Department of the Interior, 4 Jan. 2015. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.
- "Snakehead Fish." Snakehead Fish. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.
- "Two Rivers Fisheries Opens in Wickliffe; Will Export Asian Carp." Lane Report Kentucky Business Economic News Two Rivers Fisheries Opens in Wickliffe Will Export Asian Carp Comments. Web. 6 Jan. 2015.
- Asian Carp Jumping, Part 1. 2008. Film.
- Giant Snake Head Destroys Fish. 2009. Film.
I never would have thought that this stupid fish could effect the economy. I knew it had an effect on the waters and that they were supposed to help the lakes but instead they multiplied like mad and are now everywhere. However, I think you found a way to connect this to economy very well and it all made sense. So, great job with this post!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic you chose! We are all pretty aware that invasive species are not great but who knew it could tie into the economy and actually affect that too! I really had no idea that one species of fish could have such a large effect. This is why humans just need to leave nature alone and not try to introduce new species to "help control" any element because it never totally works out. I bet they had no idea the fish would be able to escape, but they did, and now they are paying the price for it. Great topic Shay!
ReplyDeleteMaybe we can rectify this negative externality by taxing those that accidentally transport invasive species into new ecosystems. For example, some boats introduce new aquatic life into an ecosystem after travelling from a different ecosystem. By placing an excise tax on these transporters, we could add to the private cost until it equals the social cost. Somebody has to be held accountable, since nature is a public good and public goods are often taken care of less enthusiastically than private goods. Of course, a tax creates economic inefficiency, so maybe another way to go is better, economically speaking.
ReplyDeleteThis was a really interesting topic. To be honest I didn't even know about that snake heads existence. It's insane how that specie has no use in our environment and yet affects a lot our economy. And to make it worst we don't even eat that fish. I can imagine the amount of money spend to get rid of snake heads, probably money that isn't as good used since a lot of those fishes are still found everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI don't know anything about this topic, but if the carp taste bad if they live in polluted lakes, does that mean that bad tasting fish are a negative externality of pollution? I also think a resource like fish is an interesting one to look at because there's a limited amount, but the problem that there's no way of excluding people from taking as much as they want. Maybe a tax on both the fish and the negative externally that makes some of them taste bad will correct this, because more fish will be edible and there will be less fish taken out of the lakes.
ReplyDeleteAs a student of AP Environmental, I know a little bit about the dangers to ecosystems of invasive species, but I was unaware of just how harshly these fish can affect the economy as well. We should be using the money we spend on invasive species to catch the species we actually WANT to catch, right? Bycatch account for over a fourth of all commercial fishing, I believe. We're spending too many valuable resources and too much money on these aliens. I think it was a good idea of you to comment on the economy instead of just the environment--how are we supposed to correct this? Maybe we should just spend the money to get the fish out now so they won't be a problem in the future. Would it be beneficial? Or would the costs be too much? Interesting thought...
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ReplyDeleteThis was actually pretty interesting. Good job. (test comment)
ReplyDeleteI like the tone you use and how you hook the reader in the beginning.
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