Yes mate. It has the potential to wipe out every species in the eastern seaboard. Not just fish, but pretty much everything, including us.
Picture this:-
Carp make up 60-80% of the biomass in the rivers.
The virus kills 80-90% of carp in the system.
So, that is about 70-75% of the biomass dead.
The virus works in 6 days from contraction to death, and is highly virulent.
The virus is active between 18 and 26 degrees.
Water temperature of 18-26 degrees coincides with our Summer period, thus with the low water period, so there is a lack of flow in the rivers and particularly in the lakes.
There will be a targeted, prioritised clean up of the dead fish i.e> on the doorsteps of influential people. The rest will be left to rot.
These fish will not flow down stream due to the low, slack water summer period. Thus they will just sink and rot where they die.
The breakdown of fish leads to ammonia being produced from the decay process. This is usually in such irrelevant levels it does not matter. But any aquarist will tell you, a dead fish in a contained area is the death of the tank as ammonia spikes, then is converted to nitrite. Ammonia and Nitrite are both deadly to all aquatic organisms, even the bacteria (nitrosomonas and nitrobacter) which usually drive the reaction to convert ammonia (NH4) to nitrite (NO2) and nitrite to the relatively harmless, and good fertiliser, nitrate (NO3) are overwhelmed and poisoned. At this stage it is the end of the river. All the yabbies, shrimp, fish, turtles and insects and larvae die, adding to the rotting, stinking soup of death.
Now, birds cannot drink the water without being poisoned, nor can mammals or reptiles. Even teh vegetation around the waterway will suffer as ammonia burns their roots.
Death.
Have fun while you can, because this scenario is not only a potential possibility, it is the highly likely result of this ill formed and ridiculous notion.
OR PROTEST AGAINST IT! WRITE TO YOUR LOCAL MEMBER AND DEMAND THEY PREVENT THE RELEASE. Please.
Yes mate. It has the potential to wipe out every species in the eastern seaboard. Not just fish, but pretty much everything, including us.
Picture this:-
Carp make up 60-80% of the biomass in the rivers.
The virus kills 80-90% of carp in the system.
So, that is about 70-75% of the biomass dead.
The virus works in 6 days from contraction to death, and is highly virulent.
The virus is active between 18 and 26 degrees.
Water temperature of 18-26 degrees coincides with our Summer period, thus with the low water period, so there is a lack of flow in the rivers and particularly in the lakes.
There will be a targeted, prioritised clean up of the dead fish i.e> on the doorsteps of influential people. The rest will be left to rot.
These fish will not flow down stream due to the low, slack water summer period. Thus they will just sink and rot where they die.
The breakdown of fish leads to ammonia being produced from the decay process. This is usually in such irrelevant levels it does not matter. But any aquarist will tell you, a dead fish in a contained area is the death of the tank as ammonia spikes, then is converted to nitrite. Ammonia and Nitrite are both deadly to all aquatic organisms, even the bacteria (nitrosomonas and nitrobacter) which usually drive the reaction to convert ammonia (NH4) to nitrite (NO2) and nitrite to the relatively harmless, and good fertiliser, nitrate (NO3) are overwhelmed and poisoned. At this stage it is the end of the river. All the yabbies, shrimp, fish, turtles and insects and larvae die, adding to the rotting, stinking soup of death.
Now, birds cannot drink the water without being poisoned, nor can mammals or reptiles. Even teh vegetation around the waterway will suffer as ammonia burns their roots.
Death.
Have fun while you can, because this scenario is not only a potential possibility, it is the highly likely result of this ill formed and ridiculous notion.
OR PROTEST AGAINST IT! WRITE TO YOUR LOCAL MEMBER AND DEMAND THEY PREVENT THE RELEASE. Please.