Bow Hunters Target Asian Carp for Sport on the Illinois River

 

Nathan Wallick is a firefighter in the American city of Peoria, Illinois. He also likes to use bows and arrows for sport. Now, that sport is helping¹ him make extra money and improve the local environment. People pay Wallick to lead hunts on the Illinois River to kill Asian carp, an invasive fish.

Nathan Wallick is one of several private boat operators helping to stop Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, one of the largest bodies of water in the United States.

The hunt takes place in an area of the river about 160 km from Lake Michigan. Wallick’s customers shoot arrows at the carp as the silvery fish jump out of the water behind the boat.

Wallick told Reuters, “The name of the game is try and knock them down as much as possible and keep them from getting into the Great Lakes.”

On a recent hunting trip, Wallick and his customers caught about 100 carp. That is not very many compared to the number of fish caught by commercial fishing boats working for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Kevin Irons is a program manager with the department. He told Reuters they have removed 3.9 million kilograms of Asian carp from the upper Illinois River since 2010.

Irons said his department gives the fish caught in removal operations to tradespeople. The sellers process them into non-food products such as fish oil, fertilizer and pet food.

Irons added that his agency welcomes the relatively² small aid from carp fishermen like Wallick.

So far, Lake Michigan and three of the five other Great Lakes - Superior, Huron and Ontario - remain free of Asian carp, Irons said. Just two carp have ever been seen in the Illinois Waterway - a shipping³ path that links Lake Michigan to the Illinois River. Both were caught.

Four Asian carp species now live in much of the Mississippi River. One species, grass carp, has made it into one of the Great Lakes - Lake Erie.

The Asian carp can weigh up to 45 kilograms. The fish feed entirely⁴ on small plants and animals that float freely in oceans and other bodies of water. The carp threaten to upset food chains of the waterways they live in while crowding out native fish. In the lower Illinois River, for example, they now make up 70% of water life, Irons said.

Asian carp come from China. They were brought into the United States in the 1970s to help control growth of plant life in commercial catfish⁵ ponds in the South. The carp found their way into the Mississippi River through flooding and accidental releases. Since then, they have invaded many of the nation’s rivers and streams.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

bow and arrows – n. a weapon consisting of arrows and the bow to shoot them

food chain – n. a series of types of living things in which each one uses the next lower member of the series as a source of food

1 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

2 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

3 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 catfish   

n.鲶鱼

参考例句：

• Huge catfish are skinned and dressed by hand.用手剥去巨鲇的皮并剖洗干净。
• We gigged for catfish off the pier.我们在码头以鱼叉叉鲶鱼。