In river, on land, Ohio on guard on many fronts

Invasive species pose a gathering threat
In river, on land, Ohio on guard on many fronts

By Eric Bradley • • January 2, 2010

Imagine a boater is speeding along the Ohio River at a good clip when, all of a
sudden, a 20-pound Asian carp springs out of the water and smacks him in the
face.

That scenario is not a big stretch. While the invasive fish is not quite to
Cincinnati yet, experts say the non-native Asian carp is ubiquitous in westward
river waters in Kentucky, Illinois and Indiana, and is being restrained here
only by the system of river locks approaching Southwest Ohio.

The voracious-eating, rapidly reproducing fish have become an ecological and
economic nuisance. They’re the current headliners in the fight against so-called
“invasive” species – plants and animals introduced into the United States that
wind up having a strong, negative impact on their surroundings.

They join other menaces that have either arrived locally or soon might, such as
wild boars and the emerald ash borer, and even a more exotic species like fallow
deer that, so far, are not numerous.

Asian carp were first imported into the United States about 40 years ago,
primarily in the South as a natural pond cleaner.

“They reproduce to such numbers that they overwhelm the native fish,” said John
Navarro, program administrator with the Ohio Division of Natural Resources
Division of Wildlife. “Basically, they’re taking away food that native fish
use.”

The bass many recreational Ohio River fishers enjoy catching may become
increasingly rare as Asian carp crowd them out, Navarro said.

And don’t expect to catch Asian carp instead. The fish are not prone to taking
bait, said Navarro.

In the Mississippi River, where the Asian carp have already taken hold after
floods in the South introduced the fish into the river, Navarro said they
represent 90 percent of the biomass, or weight of all fish in the water.

The problem has become serious enough to attract government intervention.
Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray filed a brief last week asking the U.S.
Supreme Court to review the adequacy of actions taken by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers and the state to stop the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes,
where there is still a chance of preventing the fish from taking hold.

Michigan has gone a step further in asking that the Chicago Sanitary and Ship
Canal, a century-old connection linking the Mississippi River to the Great
Lakes, be severed to prevent marauding Asian carp from endangering the state’s
$7 billion fishing industry. Ohio estimates that its recreational fishing
industry contributes $680 million to the state economy.

On land in Ohio, biologists are most concerned about invasive wild boar. Also
known as European wild boar, Russian wild boar, wild pigs, wild hogs or
razorbacks, the animal has been sighted in 26 of Ohio’s 88 counties, including
at Hueston Woods State Park in Butler County.

According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, wild boar can damage
crops, degrade wildlife habitat and eat just about anything they come across.

Wild boars also carry diseases such as pseudorabies and swine brucellosis,
although it’s more likely that domestic pigs will be affected by those diseases
than humans.

Still, it’s open season on wild boars as far as Ohio is concerned.

“If you’re out there deer hunting and you see one of these animals, feel free to
go ahead and take one. Or two. Or three. There’s no bag limit on wild hogs,”
said Dave Kohler, wildlife management supervisor with the ODNR Division of
Wildlife.

Fallow deer have also arrived locally, but don’t pose the same threat as the
wild boar. A species of deer native to Europe, some were spotted by hunters this
fall along the Clinton and Warren County border.

The species has a brown coat with irregular white spots and are commonly raised
for meat and preserve hunting. Fallow deer are classified as exotic, Kohler
said.

“If four or five fallow deer get out of a pen, they’re not rapidly reproducing
or taking over habitat that native species are using,” he said.

No discussion of invasive species would be complete without the emerald ash
borer, the ash-eating beetle from Asia and king of local invasives that first
made its appearance here in 2007 in Anderson Township. The emerald ash borer was
first seen in Ohio in 2003.

The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture has spent almost $27 million in Ohio fighting the emerald ash borer.

Quarantine programs limiting the transfer of wood from infected counties,
trapping programs and expensive chemical treatments have been used in the battle
against the beetle, but there is no cure-all remedy against the emerald ash
borer. Fifty-three of Ohio’s counties are infected with the bug, including
Hamilton, Clermont, Butler and Warren counties.

“Right now, unless somebody comes up with a way to completely eradicate them,
there’s no control, unfortunately,” said Bill Schwaderer, spokesman for the Ohio
Department of Agriculture.

ODNR estimates removing ash trees in Ohio, which some communities are doing,
would cost between $700 million and $2.9 billion. Subsequently replacing the
trees with another species would add $300 million to $1.3 billion to the tally.

Beside the economic cost, there are other reasons to control the spread of
invasive wildlife.

For example, some species of plants killed by an invasive plant may have
medicinal value, or a non-native animal establishing itself in the ecosystem may
have unpredictable effects on the local food chain, Kohler said.

“You take one component out of there and it’s a ripple effect. You never know
what the hidden cost is up front.”

The Associated Press contributed.

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