Interesting article about goldfish dumping

Granberry

Move over, Jaws

I think if I hauled in a Goldfish the size of a large dog as it mentions someone in France did, I would have to have it mounted above my fireplace. It would be weird, granted, but catching a fish that big would have to be exciting.

thekoimaiden

There was already a thread about this in the Cyprinid section. It's actually a pretty big problem as there are established populations of Goldfish in most states. Really makes me wonder why their ownership hasn't been banned yet like some other invasive plants and animals. Like carp, they can easily muck up a waterway.



USGS map of Goldfish populations in the US

Granberry

I'll go read the thread there! I watched the NBC national news tonight and Brian Williams did a story on it. Very interesting!

ladayen

haha, didn't see this before and I posted a thread about it as well.

Jakiebabie

I actually saw several very large Goldfish at a Chinese market in Toronto, next to the tanks of Lobster, Trout, Tilapia and other strange fish I had never seen all in crazy abundance. Are they a food to some people? Do people eat carp? Does North America have a solution to the problem they don't realize exists? I love Salmon and Tuna... but not sure about this. I was shocked by the amount of live fresh seafood and fish in this one market and can't imagine the amount of stock being taken from lakes and oceans.... let alone seeing massive Goldfish in the same "food" tanks. I had this bug eyed look of shock on my face for the rest of the day.

I admit I laughed when I saw the video how shocked people were and didn't know about Goldfish.

ladayen

Theres 1 billion+ people in China. 3x that of the USA. Only in the last 25 years has there been any real connection with the rest of the world. This means that they had to be self sufficient and often couldn't be picky over what they ate. Traditional food has stuck around even if it is no longer necessary. Theres not much the older generations of Chinese wont eat, simply because they had to earlier in life.


As to Goldfish while they can grow 1.5' rather large for a typical aquarium it's not actually that big and can take a long time to attain. Larger fish will reach edible size much more quickly where it becomes easier to mass market. Common aquarium chemicals also make it a bad idea to eat home raised fish, and due to the adaptability of the Goldfish as seen in the video making farms for them has a risk of introducing them to the local water.

Olympia

My family eats carp and it's consider a very good fish to eat in Poland..

ladayen

They've actually tried to ban Goldfish in a few places. However most people dont understand how a tiny little Goldfish that is like 2" long is a problem. Outside of the hobby few people realize how big they do get, how much they eat and being so easy to take care off means they are adaptable to various situations, including introduction to new places. When I tell people Goldfish get over 1' long I'm usually met with this stare like I told them I had dinner with a yeti.

thekoimaiden

But I think that's Cyprinus carpio not Goldfish. I have a friend from the Czech Republic, and they eat carp as their holiday feast.

I believe Goldfish (like Koi) were domesticated for food, but not because of the size they grew to. They were probably domesticated for how hardy they are. Stick a couple of crucian carp in a pond for a year or so and they'll get 8 to 12 inches. It's not much, but when you're starving it's better than nothing.

I know this method has been suggested as a way to keep down the grass carp and silver carp invasion of the Mississippi. I mean, what better way to knock down the numbers of a fish besides making people want to eat it.