NANFA-- peacock bass

Jay DeLong (thirdwind_at_att.net)
Sat, 18 Dec 1999 21:17:15 -0800

I was reading PREVENTION IS THE BEST CURE WHEN IT COMES TO FLORIDA'S AQUATIC
ALIENS, at http://www.state.fl.us/fwc/fishing/news-rel/nrev-ali.html

There was this statement:

Shafland and his fisheries team at the Boca Lab are involved daily in
assessing the exotic fish populations in the state, and developing
management strategies to cope with any negative consequences. In one notable
exception, the FWC introduced an exotic predator, the butterfly peacock
bass, to the canals of Miami-Dade and Broward counties to control the
existence of a huge population of exotic tilapia. "This program has been a
tremendous success," he said. "The butterfly peacock has reduced the number
of tilapia while also creating an $8 million per year sport fishery. The
South American butterfly peacock is a world class sportfish, and it has had
no known negative impact on native fish. It needs to be emphasized that we
thoroughly studied the butterfly peacock and the canals for many years
before the first fish was ever released."

"No known negative impact"? Does anyone know what negative impacts on
native fishes have actually occurred from the peacock bass? And if these
impacts are a worthwhile tradeoff to reduce tilapia numbers?

--
Jay DeLong
Olympia, WA

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