bad to release a full size oscar into a pond?

[pinballqueen]

Originally posted by Hans
ill bet in the future, instead of dropping bombs on our enemies, well drop non native fish into their lakes and streams, boy that will make em mad!

While the sarcasm is appreciated in this comment... it's not really a laughing matter.

Non-native species drive native species to extinction via introduction of parasites, diseases, aggression, and competition for resources.

Keep in mind that in the wild, an oscar would be competing for the same food as a speckled perch (rock bass, crappie, whatever you wanna call it). I know this because I have caught an oscar while I was speck fishing in our local lake. Since oscars will GREATLY oversize a speck and grow much faster, and if other people got it in their heads to release their overgrown oscars into the local waterway, it is reasonable to think that the oscar population would outcompete the speck population and their numbers would reduce over time. Introducing ANY new predator into an environment can greatly impact the entire ecosystem in a negative manner. The same can be said of rapidly-growing non native plants as well. Anyone who has been in southern appalachia or knows what kudzu is knows what I am talking about. They don't call it mile-a-minute for nothin....

 

[DeVitaf]

Originally posted by Hans
ill bet in the future, instead of dropping bombs on our enemies, well drop non native fish into their lakes and streams, boy that will make em mad!

It seems that our military is a step ahead of you in our non traditional war tactics. I just grabbed this graphic from CNN. The infestation has begun. It is only a matter of time before they are over run with ICH and Fishy tuberculosis...

 

[JSchmidt]

A parachutin' Oscar... that's a hoot! Nice one!

Jim

 

[Dabbler II]

I don't think he was asking if he could release an oscar into the wild I think he was wondering if it would surive the winter in a privite pond

 

[elcano]

We have truck loads of carp in our local dam here in Sydney.
It's actually illegal to put them back if you catch one (which you will). A great law that!
Ever seen a pelical fly away from a fish being thrown at it? Ahahah!

:laugh:

 

[basenjib123]

Not the same fishes

Carp, Goldfish, Koi, etc. are obviously "cold water fish", thus they can and do survive NE waters quite well ...Oscars are tropical fish, Oscars are not going to survive a winter in the Northeast United States period.

 

[OrionGirl]

Care to take a bet on that one? Would you say that mollies and guppies are tropical too? Yes, oscars native waters stay much warmer than most our northern waters. However, there are many lakes and streams that have thermal heating--and tropical fish can survive in these handily. Lakes and ponds in towns tend to stay warmer than those out in the country, and tropicals frequently survive these as well.
Not to mention, there are many states up here that do not have cold winters--waters drop in temp, but never freeze over, and fish survive in these easily. Heck, aren't oscars now classed as a game fish in Florida due to releases that resulted in reproducing populations?

 

[Gulp]

Originally posted by OrionGirl
Heck, aren't oscars now classed as a game fish in Florida due to releases that resulted in reproducing populations?

http://www.floridaconservation.org/fishing/updates/oscar.html

Here is one quote from the artical that is interesting:

Oscars are one of two dozen or more "exotic" species known to reproduce in our waters, but are confined to south Florida's sub-tropical and tropical habitat due to temperature requirements. Shafland said they cannot tolerate chills that dip below 54-degrees F.

Another quote showing how quickly they can populate an area:

"Catches exceeding three fish per day were unknown prior to 1983," said Shafland.

"By 1985, however, some anglers were catching as many as 50 to 100 oscars per day."

And yet one more quote. Looks like they aren't classified as game fish so people can catch and eat as many as they want:

Since the oscar has become a permanent Florida fixture, instead of cussing yet another exotic that has taken root, let's learn to adapt to this "invader" and enjoy both its outstanding sporting and eating qualities. Especially since all the oscars we catch and eat will help reduce any potential deleterious environmental affects they might otherwise have, which is one reason the FWC lists them as a "non-game" species and allows unlimited harvest (no size or bag limits apply).

 

[OrionGirl]

Good quotes! Guess game vrs non-game is a matter of state law semantics--in WY, a game fish is any fish that is caught with the intent to consume other than carp/sucker fish.


There are many waters that don't get below 54...Not many in Maine, nor in Wyoming, but they certainly exist in the south and southwest.

 

[basenjib123]

I should have..

I should have taken that bet !