Overrun by Andrew Reeves Annotated Table of Contents Introduction In a concise introduction, author Andrew Reeves tells readers in an informative but humorous manner about why they should care that an invasive fish is spreading through their rivers and lakes. Because of the broad scope of the invasion, the book is partly an environmental travelogue following Reeves from the Gulf Coast up the Mississippi river and on to the Great Lakes as he visits the bayous, marshes, rivers, lakes, laboratories, government offices, and fisheries directly impacted or attempting to control this dangerous fish. Chapter 1 -- In the Beginning The first species of Asian carp to start it all was the grass carp (also called the White Amur) brought into America as a solution for overgrown aquatic weeds. Soon to follow were the silver and bighead carp, who were introduced as compatible species for general aquaculture control. Most people blame commercial fisheries for letting Asian carp loose, but Reeves explains how it was really the U.S. Fish and Wildlife services who were responsible for the initial outbreak. The scientific literature of the time from all around the world fully supported stocking grass carp as weed control, so the state of Arkansas adopted an aggressive policy of letting them into open waters with a short-sighted "wait and see" approach.
A growing debate and argument over stocking grass carp led to a wide divide between an anti-carp public and a heavily pro-carp commercial and government industry. Chapter 2 - "Ecology''s Helper" In the wake of Rachel Carson''s massive bestseller Silent Spring, published in 1962, exposing the horror of the chemical DDT, the public was turned sharply against using pesticides. This opened the doorway for the alternative biological method of aquatic weed control that was Asian carp to gain ground. Support from politicians, academics, and government researchers from all over the U.S. but especially in Florida and Arkansas was a key factor leading to the use of grass, silver, and bighead carp as a method of biological control. The carp were a failure at their intended purpose, and through many trials it was eventually determined that the only viable variety of Asian carp was sterile grass carp. Today, pesticides are still used heavily, and even the banning of DDT is no longer wholeheartedly supported by all.
Chapter 3 - Tragedy of the White Amur The quest to commercially produce a sterile grass carp was officially on in Arkansas but was met with many scientific hurdles. Initial attempts to breed a sterile hybrid ended in failure. When a method of forcing sterility using hydrostatic pressure shocking was finally perfected state agencies still didn''t believe in the full sterility of the fish because of the earlier failures to contain them. A reliable, cheap and efficient way to confirm genetic triploidy (guaranteed sterility) of all commercially bred fish was found in 1984. But 100% triploidy was impossible to achieve. It wasn''t until 1995 that a federal certification program for verifying the sterility of bred grass carp was put in place throughout Arkansas, Florida, Missouri, Alabama and Illinois. Chapter 4 - Research Backwater Reeves joins in on a four-day, hundred-person canoe ride with the Barataria-Terrebonne National Estuary Program (BTNEP) through Louisiana. The canoe ride gives Reeves a clear snapshot that along the Gulf Coast, Louisiana-born Asian carp swim from Texas to Mississippi and hasten their spread up the country.
Adding to this is a growing realization that Asian carp are evolving to live in higher salinity water and spreading throughout the coast into Texas and Florida. The historic and continued lack of budget to research and control Asian carp outside of the Great Lakes area have hamstrung any research and stalled all control and prevention measures. Chapter 5 - Scientific Salvation Reeves begins this chapter with a visit to the Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (MAISRC) where he interviews scientists working on new methods of control for Asian carp and other invasive species. Reeves describes all of these methods, which range from the large physical electric barriers and acoustic controls to the subtler chemical carbon dioxide and pheromone controls, their different levels of effectiveness, and their pros and cons. He then takes a step back to discuss what an invasive species really is and how our current society has arrived at the current way of thinking regarding them. Reeves concludes that we are in desperate need of research funding to find a new way to control Asian carp. Chapter 6 - Trouble with Fishing Reeves moves on to the potential of and trouble with the simplest and oldest method of control for invasive species -- fishing. He explores that potential by joining a team of fishers sponsored by the Illinois government to reduce pressure on the upstream electric barrier.
Because of very low demand for all types of Asian carp it is extremely difficult to run a profitable fishing business catching them. Reeves acknowledges the potential to reduce the Asian carp population that programs like this have but stipulates that far more state and local governments need to step in to help start the process, and that it must be done smartly to be efficient as a method of control. Chapter 7 - "Eat ''em to Beat ''em"? Asian carp is a high protein and low-fat meat that is abundantly available, so why aren''t people eating it? Reeves travels to Chicago to taste it for himself and interview chefs and fishers in search of the answer. It turns out Asian carp is an "okay" fish to eat but has a notoriously difficult bone structure and a very negative public reputation. Fine dining chefs are unwilling to make Asian carp a feature on their menus because of the perceived low quality and the necessity for a high amount of labour to prepare -- negating the low purchasing cost of the meat. Chapter 8 - The Glorious Gate The next stop on Reeves''s travels is Eagle Marsh, Indiana, where a permanent 10-foot-high subcontinental divide berm was erected solely to stop Asian carp from transferring into the Great Lakes through the marsh. Part of the reason Asian carp are in the marsh at all is the steep decline of tall-grass prairie ecosystems throughout all North America. Only protected conservancy areas are still thriving today, representing about 1% of the historic range of this necessary ecosystem.
Chapter 9 - eDNA Rising Still in Indiana, Reeves attends a science communication workshop and is in the laboratory of scientists working on eDNA today. Back in 2009 eDNA was the cutting edge of Asian carp crisis response and caused public outcry when it detected Asian carp north of the electric barriers. This sparked a mass poisoning that uncovered only one dead bighead carp and called the validity of eDNA into question. Reeves''s succinctly explains what eDNA is and how and why it''s used for Asian carp detection. Today eDNA has progressed significantly and is an accepted professional method for species detection and management that is affordable and efficient. Chapter 10 - Via Chicago Reeves explores the complicated history of Chicago hydrology and the grand idea to create a permanent barrier between the Chicago water systems and Lake Michigan. There are other benefits besides Asian carp control that made the idea viable and early quotes were received positively but had major pushback from the transportation and industrial community. Recent ecological concerns over consequences of the project have stalled it indefinitely, as well as the fact that no agency or state was actually willing to pay for it.
Chapter 11 - At Home in the Great Lakes Reeves finally comes to the Great Lakes themselves and goes on a trip beginning in Hamilton with a Canadian government sponsored group looking for Asian carp in the lakes but desperately hoping not to find it. Reeves explains the history of overfishing in the Great Lakes and the many species that have been driven out or extinct, as well as the extreme importance of the Great Lakes watershed to the overall Canadian economy. Reeves''s last stop on the travelogue is the Asian Carp Public Forum event in Toronto in 2016 where we learn how scarily few bighead carp (just 10 male and 10 female) it would take to establish a breeding population. Conclusion Reeves details how the current Whitehouse administration has pulled out every form of environmental protection and fully abandoned any commitment to preserving the Great Lakes. Luckily, one of the most effective and cheapest methods of managing Asian carp is paying fishers to net them out and many state governments are willing to cover the costs for those initiatives. Reeves discusses how habitat destruction and pollution dating back since the late 19th century is the root of the problem for native fish destruction and pushes for an entirely new way of thinking regarding Asian carp and all "invasive" species. To affect real change, Reeves says, we need to shift entirely the way we build our cities and grow our food. PostScript Reeves laments the decision that Jim Malone made to import silver and bighead carp but acknowledges that Malone had the support of the international community in that decision and had no way of knowing the harm it had the potential to cause.