Population Overflow

Floods in North Carolina caused by the recent barrage of rain-soaked hurricane remnants may have led to accidental releases of sterile grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella). As reported by The Charlotte Observer, some of the fish, used in lakes to control the aquatic invasive plant hydrilla (Hydrilla verticillata), are likely to have taken the opportunity to head downstream when high water levels made their escape from the lakes possible. Interestingly, the focus of this story is more on the fact that the fish are an expensive loss, rather than what dozens of hungry carp are going to eat once they find themselves in a river that is hydrilla-free.