Lion Fish

The lionfish is native to the indo-pacific region and the red sea, but they are invasive in the western Atlantic basin, which includes the western Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. The exact reason is unknown but experts think that people have been dumping unwanted fish from their homes into the Atlantic Ocean for almost 25 years. The lionfish have venomous spines that are extremely painful to the victim if they are stung, Mike Ryan, a scuba diving instructor describes it as “It won’t kill you, but it’ll make you wish you were dead” (NOAA). Lionfish do not have many predators because they are invasive, one lionfish in a coral reef. The lionfish are out-breeding, out-competing, and out-living native fish and other marine species They can reduce the pursuit of native fish by 79%, this impacts food security and economies affecting over a hundred million people.

Source: National Ocean Service, Why are lionfish a growing problem in the Atlantic Ocean?

Asian Carp

The Asian carp are invasive to the great lakes and are causing big problems within the ecosystems. They are natively from South East Asia, but they were brought to the United States to help keep retention ponds clean. But flooding in these ponds have allowed them to get into the Mississippi river system and find their ways into the Missouri and Illinoi rivers. Asian carp have the ability to leap 10 feet out of the water when they are startled by boat engines, often colliding with people and causing injuries. Once they are established in an environment, they are nearly impossible to eradicate, females lay half a million eggs each time they spawn. The eggs are light and float on top of the water which allows water currents to move them and spread even faster. These fish discourage people to fish in Minnesota, which is not good because people depend on a healthy recreation and invest in the Mississippi river.

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Sea Lamprey

The Sea Lamprey is native to the Atlantic Ocean but invasive in the great lakes. They got to the great lakes through man made locks and shipping canals, and they have an enormous negative impact on the great lake fishery. Canada and the U.S. harvested about 15 million pounds of lake trout in the great lakes each year, since the sea lamprey population exploded in the early 1960’s, the catch had dropped to approximately 300,000 pounds a year. Up to 85% of the fish who hadn’t been killed by the sea lamprey had attack wounds from them.

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