We’ve come full circle now, and anglers around Melbourne are incensed that trout are about to be purged from Australian waters.
The popular game fish has been declared an alien species and put on a hit-list for eradication in a move that has outraged anglers.
Trout would be culled from major Victorian rivers such as the Murray, Goulburn and Yarra, despite the Brumby Government pouring about 400,000 trout into our waterways each year.
Native fish recovery means the trout are interlopers and will be removed from the watershed. An interesting quandary, as we’ve studied all the things necessary to promote trout habitat, now we’ll see how resilient the species is when systematically purged.
Trout were introduced in Australia in the 1870’s, similar well meaning anglers did likewise in California and other parts of the US, pushing the native trout out of most of the watershed.
Is this the start of something larger? Genetic manipulation of crops and animals have been front page news for some time, will this be championed by the eco-radicals into something bigger, a return to historical species and populations, despite many of the original strains extinct or hybridized?
Nothing surprises me anymore.
Technorati Tags: trout pests, native fish recovery, australia
The useful English starlings have arrived and string like dark, irridescent prayer beads along the powerlines over the trailer. Tomorrow I get the BB gun out and do my bit.
I would say, “save some for feathers” – but I tried to pelt a starling once, it didn’t work out. Songbird critters have skin that’s thinner than paper, requiring better tools than I have.
Plugged two, slit their bellies from ass to chin, scooped out the innards with a teaspoon, stuffed the cavity with a 50/50 blend of salt and borax, tied string around the bodies to keep the mixture inside, hung them by their little feet in the shed where they will mummify till spring. (My wife just loves this process and vows she will do the same for me.)
Jesu Christo, now what … you going to make 100 dozen Starling and Herl wetflies?
Thought you might want one…