Wen | Yanzi looks at the world
Editor|Yanzi sees the world
preface
There is a kind of fish, it is the "flood beast" that makes the United States painful, but it is a delicacy that makes China salivate, it is the Asian black fish known as the "hell fish" by the Americans, also known as the "snakehead fish".
In order to solve these black fish, the United States calls on native anglers to kill all black fish and not release them if they encounter them.
Not only that, the United States also invested $800 million to issue a bounty order for it, and even made it into a horror movie, called "Frankenstein".
What is so terrifying about Asian blackfish, and why is it such a headache for Americans?
Flooding in the United States
Blackfish belongs to the shark family, biologically called black snakehead, it is a freshwater fish that can breathe air, black fish because its head resembles a python, and the whole body is covered with snake prints, so it is also collectively known as "snake head fish".
This fish is very adaptable to various environments, even in waters where other fish are difficult to survive, blackfish can live normally, and even survive for up to 4 days after leaving the water.
In order to be able to better catch prey, they inhabit the bottom of lakes with lush aquatic grass, blackfish is a fierce carnivorous fish, their diet is very extensive, young fish and shrimp are the mainstay, and when they grow up, they will prey on other fish.
Blackfish has a strong jumping ability, adult blackfish can even jump out of the water 1-2 meters high, if encountering heavy rain, or lack of food in the water, blackfish will jump directly to the land, by twisting and then enter other waters, this ability to migrate autonomously, is most fish do not have.
The maximum black fish can grow to about 1.2 meters, not to mention the large size, the strength is also very large, and the mouth is full of fangs and sharp teeth, so the terrifying size and strange appearance of this fish have left a deep impression on the Americans.
The most unexpected thing is that blackfish can mature sexually in only two years, at this time their body length has reached about 30cm, and their weight can reach more than 1 pound.
They have a strong reproductive ability, each black fish can lay about 15,000 eggs at a time, not only that, their reproductive ability will become stronger according to age and body size, up to 100,000 eggs at a time.
The way blackfish treat their offspring is also very different from other fish, blackfish will put some aquatic plants and plant fragments together to build a floating "baby room" during the breeding period.
After they lay their eggs in the nest, the blackfish couple lurks under the nest, and the two fish take turns to watch over the protection until the eggs hatch and the baby blackfish grows to 10 millimeters long.
Compared to the behavior of many fish abandoning their children, the blackfish couple can be called a loving father and mother.
It is precisely because blackfish spawn in large quantities and protect their young, so once a few blackfish flow into the river, large-scale spread is basically inevitable, and it will flood in just a few years.
The flooding of blackfish has had a serious impact on the water environment in the United States, and blackfish are already fierce, so they eat many fish in the waters, seriously squeezing the living space of native fish in the United States.
In order to eradicate this black fish, the United States has taken great pains, and after they found the black fish, they immediately announced that this black fish is harmful, and its import and sale are prohibited, and a state in the United States has directly criminalized "introducing black fish into the state".
In order to stop the spread of blackfish, they made an exception to lift fishing restrictions, and also let people participate in fishing competitions, offering a reward of $1 for a blackfish, and if anyone sees a blackfish, they will immediately kill it.
In addition, the relevant departments of the United States also blocked the waters where the blackfish lived, and they were guarded by the police, and the fishery administration department was not idle, they took various measures, including net fishing, electric shock, poisoning and various methods, the most outrageous is to directly drain the pond water, the blackfish are all neted, but they are greatly disappointed.
Not only did it not eliminate blackfish, but many native fish in the United States suffered, and blackfish survived by its own adaptability, and then invaded the major rivers of the United States again.
Blackfish was spotted for the first time
Blackfish was first spotted in the United States in 2002, when an American fishing enthusiast was fishing in the river and accidentally caught a snake-like fish with a huge body size of about 51 centimeters in length.
Because the fish looked strange, he immediately released it after taking the photo, and immediately contacted local fish experts, who found that it was a fish from Asia.
This has alarmed local experts, after all, the Asian carp imported from Asia by the United States has choked the large and small lakes in the United States, and now Asian fish have been found in the waters.
Unexpectedly, a month and a half later, fish experts caught the fish again, and by this time its length had grown to 61 centimeters.
In fact, this Asian blackfish was first brought to the United States by a fish farmer, and in 2000, an American tourist bought a pair of blackfish and raised them as aquarium fish.
At first, the man kept it in his own fish tank, and as the day went by, he found that the black fish ate more and more, and its size grew very rapidly.
It didn't take long for the fish farmer to have the idea of throwing it away, but because he couldn't bear it, he put the blackfish in a pond and let them grow, but this action had immeasurable consequences.
Chinese's "Chinese Meal"
Blackfish is far more destructive in the U.S. than Asian carp, so how to deal with this blackfish? Most Chinese netizens said that Americans would be fine if they had a Chinese stomach.
Because black fish is a native fish of the mainland, so in the rivers and lakes of the mainland still have to clamp the tail to make fish, they are an American's nightmare, but it is a Chinese plate meal, the only drawback is a little expensive, 20-30 yuan a pound, not raised may not be enough to eat.
Blackfish is an important economic fish in the mainland, the meat is prickly, delicious, the meat quality is rich in a lot of nutrients, and contains 18 kinds of amino acids, the protein content is relatively high compared to beef and chicken.
Black fish has a series of methods such as sauerkraut fish, grilled fish, boiled fish soup, stone pot fish, etc., and can be eaten as much as you want in China, and black fish can not only be directly served on the table, but also made into fish bone meal, fish oil, etc., so it is deeply loved by the Chinese masses.
Many Chinese foodies watch one after another fat black fish being caught by the United States and then killed at will, they can't help but sigh that the United States does not know how to eat fish, do Americans really not know how to eat fish?
In fact, Americans prefer to eat deep-sea fish than blackfish, which is a freshwater fish, and more importantly, in the previous industrial revolution, the United States did not have a strong sense of environmental protection, and some industrial wastewater was directly discharged into rivers and lakes, resulting in heavy metals living in rivers seriously exceeding the standard.
Later, they didn't want to eat it themselves, so they thought of exporting these flooded invasive species to other countries, everyone is not stupid, you American version of the fish or keep it for yourself.
Asian carp
Asian carp is also the so-called invasive species in the United States, speaking of carp, everyone must be thinking, isn't this our daily food? They also love carp, but for the United States, they are problems that need to be solved by the US Army.
The living environment of these Asian carp in the country and the United States is very different, these carp in the mainland because of some fishery fishing and affected by the ecological environment, general rivers, lakes are rarely seen larger fish.
About 100 years ago, the industrial development of the United States was very rapid, and the environmental awareness at that time was not so strong, resulting in many factories putting wastewater directly into the Mississippi River.
In the 70s of the last century, the water was full of various heavy metals, algae creatures in the water multiplied wildly, and in order to control the growth of algae, weeds and parasites in freshwater aquaculture, American scientists thought of Asian carp that can graze.
So the Asian carp was introduced to the United States and released into those heavily polluted waters, and the results were good in those years, but the good times did not last long, and it did not take long for this fish to occupy the major rivers and lakes of the United States, resulting in ecological disorder.
At that time, in the United States, 70 and 80 pounds of carp were very common, some even weighed 100 pounds, and the body length was 1.5 meters, and these fish even exceeded 90% of the total aquatic biomass.
Later, Asian carp began to breed northward at a rate of 50 nautical miles a year, uncontrollable, and eventually reached the Chicago Canal.
And so a battle began, the U.S. Army and carp to keep Asian carp in the canal and prevent them from invading the Great Lakes, which contain one-fifth of the world's freshwater and generate nearly $50 billion a year in fishing and tourism revenue.
The United States has deployed its army to eliminate Asian carp, which shows how much the introduction of these alien species by the United States has on the ecological impact of the native land.
End
It has been more than 20 years since blackfish was introduced to the United States, and apparently the various measures of the local government have not had much effect, and blackfish are still flooded and growing.
In general, because of the pollution of the water environment and perennial eating habits, freshwater fish are mixed with various flavors, and they dare not eat and will not eat, so it has caused "flooding".
The population of the mainland is relatively large, and there are few coastal cities, whether it is seafood or freshwater fish, the resource consumption is very large, and the resources of various fish are becoming less and less.