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DUBBED “CARPAGEDDON” AND backed by the man who threatened to kill Johnny Depp’s dogs, the latest plan to control introduced species in Australia will use the herpes virus to eradicate millions of predatory fish.
The National Carp Control Plan will cost Aus$15 million (just under €10 million) to spread the virus through the aggressive common carp, introduced to Australia in the mid-1800s.
And it has brought Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce another brush with notoriety after his threat last year to put down Hollywood star Depp’s dogs after he and wife Amber Heard breached Australia’s quarantine laws.
Joyce strutted and yelled in an extraordinary show in parliament this week when he reported the carp scheme to members.
In a booming rasp, the red-faced Joyce branded the fish “disgusting mud-sucking creatures”, and kept shouting “CAAARP” and “venereal disease” to the amusement of some MPs.
“Carp are the worst freshwater aquatic pest in Australia,” he said in a statement, estimating the cost to the economy at Aus$500 million a year.
Current control measures, including trapping, commercial fishing and exclusion, are expensive and largely ineffective at controlling carp over large areas or for any length of time.
But the virus developed in Israel had worked elsewhere.
“We’ve seen in lakes, in Japan, lakes that are multiple times the size of Sydney Harbour, we’ve lost 70% of the European carp in two weeks,” Joyce said.
According to Science Minister Christopher Pyne, who came up with “Carpageddon”, the virus has no impact on humans and is carp specific.
“Suddenly, there will be literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions of tonnes of carp that will be dead in the River Murray,” Pyne said.
Carp account for 80% to 90% of the fish biomass in southeastern Australia’s Murray-Darling river system.
The plan hopes to wipe out 95% of them over 30 years and allow native species such as silver perch and Murray cod to thrive.
The virus attacks the carp’s kidneys, skin and gills and stops them breathing.
“They have the virus for a week before they show any symptoms and it suddenly kills them within 24 hours,” said Pyne.
Carp have spread across Australia, except the Northern Territory.
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I mean what could possibly go wrong?
Cane toads…seemed like a good idea at the time.
Carpe Die umm.
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So Barnaby reckons that the best way to cure a problem caused by man screwing around with nature, is to screw around with nature.
The guy comes across as a bit of a psycho.
a certain episode of the Simpsons springs to mind…
Pobodys Nerfect
Does this guy forget that the Australians themselves are a non native invasive species.? Would not such a large fish kill cause ecological chaos releasing vast amounts of nitrates and microbes into the local rivers and marine environment creating dead zones akin to the effects of unregulated fish farming. This guy is a stereotype of a white Australian buffoon.
By “Australians” I take it you refer to the Caucasian variety predominantly otiginating from the British Isles and not the indigenous Australians who’ve been there for 40,000+ years?
If only the aboriginies had thought of that.
Australians new and old are destroying an entire continent with an air of godliness
Carp aren’t native
c rap
This is aimed at controlling an introduced species that does untold damage to the natural native ecosystem. I therefore don’t see how your comment is in anyway relevant to the story?
Humans: an introduced species that does untold damage to the natural native ecosystem
So let me get this straight. The catch the fish one by one and and folk with a STD give them a rodgering and the put them back and a week later the fish dies? A bit labour intensive isnt it?
no they are going to open a Carp only Nightclub string for fish called Carpe Diem, then the virus will run rampant, human solution to a fish problem
Assel FYI it’s considered racist to claim there where no humans in Australia before the arrival of Europeans.
Boganity i never heard of that definition, show me your source?
Australians where introduced to that island in from Europe in the similar way the carp
You know there were Australians there long before the Europeans arrived, right?
Over 40,000 years in fact…Peter is not alone, Aldi had to apologize for making the same ignorant mistake as him.
It would be a good idea to say why they’re doing this. Quite the omission
Non native species preventing the native species from thriving.
It does ..Because they are an invasive species and cost aus500k a year to their economy
Australia is like a dry run for humans for when we eventually colonize our first new planet in outer space, it will help us to figure out what NOT to do when we take over an entire new ecosystem in order not to destroy it and become like rabid dogs protecting our treasure in the mean time
Million
They tried to combat the cane beetle by introducing the 102 cane toads. It backfired big time, the toad is spreading and now numbers are 200 million and growing by 10% a yr. Introducing vd to fish could easily spread to other species but then again I’m sure they’ve done their research.
Wow! 500k ! No excuse for killing off them off
Assel humans and the Australian ecosystem lived in perfect harmony for over 40,000 years before the arrival of the British. So what your actually saying is the British taught the human race how to destroy an ecosystem?
For half a second while my eyes adjusted I read it as ‘predatory irish’
Barnaby is coming after them next
Make it illegal to fish carp and eat carp and they’ll be gone in a year!
It’s not illegal to fish them there it’s illegal to throw them back in
Ive seen video of these fish leaping from the water into boats in the US…didnt know australia had this problem as well.
Perhaps we could offer our politicians for a trail run?
They have Healy-Raes in Australia too.
Explains the criminal gene lol.
Mud carpe is very popular as food in China. They could farm them and export them to China.
It’s a shame you can’t put the theme of Looney tunes on, suits this lot
Barnaby is a one man show…
To be fair they need to do something as the carp prevent native species from thriving. Domestic and feral cats kill approximately 70 million native animals daily over there. Perhaps they should be given the clap…
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He should not be carping on about it. “It was the schooner ‘Herpes’ that sailed the wintry seas.”
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“non native species prevent the native species from thriving” Australians would know lots about that
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