All:
In defense of the state game and fish agencies (having worked for one
for the better part of a half-century), most of these introductions
are done illegally, without agency concurrence, and against the
advice of state biologists, who are 99 percent highly competent and
dedicated people. The people who make these introductions either do
so out of ignorance, for the money, and most often both. They just
don't give a damn about following the law, and state agencies and
biologists end up getting stuck with the results and try to make the
best of it.
Phil
Edwin P. (Phil) Pister
Executive Secretary, Desert Fishes Council
P.O. Box 337, Bishop, CA 93515 (for regular mail)
For FedEx or UPS: 437 East South Street, Bishop, CA 93514
(760) 872-8751 [FAX and voice phone]
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the
ignorant." ...Amos Bronson Alcold.
On Jun 7, 2007, at 9:01 PM, Walter Courtenay wrote:
If the folks in charge of state game & fish agencies don't give a
damn about this, Phil et al., nothing can stop this kind of
introduction. The "feds" are powerless in such situations, as you
know. In our combined experience, we both know that despite how
long or how loud biologists want and need something done NOW, those
in charge of agencies typically take such action when it is far too
late, after the fact.
----Walt
Phil Pister <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
All:
I just received this email from Paul Loiselle, a long-time DFC member
now affiliated with the New York Zoological Society. Paul conducts
extensive research in Madagascar.
The purpose of this is simply to alert you to another threat to North
America's desert fishes which, to repeat Paul's subject, is VERY bad
news.
Phil
Edwin P. (Phil) Pister
Executive Secretary, Desert Fishes Council
P.O. Box 337, Bishop, CA 93515 (for regular mail)
For FedEx or UPS: 437 East South Street, Bishop, CA 93514
(760) 872-8751 [FAX and voice phone]
e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
"To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the
ignorant." ...Amos Bronson Alcold.
Begin forwarded message:
> From: "Loiselle, Paul"
> Date: June 5, 2007 12:14:54 PM PDT
> To:
> Subject: FW: Very bad news
>
> Dear Phil,
>
>
>
> I hope this note finds you well. I am forwarding a rather alarming
> piece of information about a highly predatory, parthenogenetic N.
> American catfish that has become established in Madagascar. As
> this beast appears to be in the aquarium trade, there exists the
> possibility of it finding its way into aquatic habitats in the
> desert southwest. Given that crayfish translocations within N.
> America have caused serious problems, I don’t think we really want
> this animal in places like Ash Meadows, Quitobaquito Springs or
> Cuatro Cienegas! Could you circulate this to the DFC membership as
> sort of a general warning that this animal could cause major
> problems and it might be prudent for managers to think proactively
> about it?
>
>
>
> Ho ela velona!
>
>
>
> Paul
>
>
>
> From: Herilala,
> Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 12:35 AM
> To: Loiselle, Paul
> Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Claudine RAMIARISON
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: FW: Very bad news
>
>
>
> Hello
>
>
>
> This news is about American crayfish introduced to Madagascar
> according to the following message.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Herilala RANDRIAMAHAZO
>
> WCS, Marine Program
>
> Madagascar
>
> Tel : +261 33 11 879 93
>
> Fax : +261 20 22 529 76
>
>
>
> From: Julia Jones [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Sent: Tue 5/29/2007 12:00 PM
> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; "Rasamy
> ramsyal"@freenet.mg; Herizo Andrianandrasana;
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Crowley, Helen;
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED];
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: Very bad news
>
> Dear All
>
> Many of you will have already heard the bad news that Procambarus,
> a north
> American crayfish genus, has invaded Madagascar. This is very bad
> news for
> native crayfish (Astacoides) and potentially for other aquatic
> biodiversity and
> even for rice farmers. The invader has been preliminarily
> identified as
> ‘Marmorkrebs’, a new species of Procambarus related to P. fallax by
> German
> taxonomist Chris Lukaup. I attach a paper in Nature and a Nature
> news article
> which describes a frightening feature of Marmorkrebs: it can
> reproduce by
> parthenogenesis (reproduces without the need of males). This
makes it
> potentially extremely invasive. Mme Rasamy of the University of
> Tana has
> collected about 50 individuals, all of them females. She first
> found them 2
> years ago in a swamp near Tana but says they are spreading fast and
> are now
> sold in markets all over town.
>
> There are a number of reasons to be seriously concerned about the
> spread of
> Procambarus in Madagascar:
> 1) They may carry a fungal disease (Aphanomyces astaci) known
> as crayfish
> plague. N. American species are immune but Astacoides are likely to
> suffer
> extremely high mortality. Where plague has been introduced to non-
> immune
> populations, local extinctions have followed.
> 2) Procambarus are voracious predators of tadpoles and aquatic
> invertebrates
> and
> may cause serious changes to aquatic ecosystems in general.
> 3) Where Procambarus has been introduced in rice growing areas
> (e.g. Spain and
> Portugal) they have become an important pest of rice fields,
> damaging banks and
> disrupting irrigation through burrowing and eating seedlings.
>
> I think we need to carry out urgent surveys to establish how fast
> Procambarus
> is
> spreading. We need to look at how Procambarus is acting in the
> Madagascar rice
> farming context (is it causing problems to rice farmers? how great
> are these
> problems?). We also need to look and see if Madagascar
populations of
> Procambarus are carriers of the plague.
>
> Please forward this message to anyone you feel might be interested
> in this
> issue.
>
> Julia
>
> --
> Dr Julia Jones
> Lecturer in Conservation
> School of the Environment and Natural Resources
> University of Wales, Bangor
> 01248 382650
>
> --
> This mail sent through http://webmail.bangor.ac.uk
>
> --
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______________________________________________
Walter R. Courtenay, Jr., Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus of Zoology
5005 NW 59th Terrace
Gainesville, FL 32653-4065
Phone: (352)371-8302; cellphone (352)359-4434
Fax: (352)378-4956
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * <*)}}}}><
Office: U.S. Geological Survey
7920 NW 71st Street
Gainesville, FL 32653-3071
Phone: (352)264-3519
email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
