Grass carp for weed control?

Press, 10 April 1980, Page 3

Grass carp for weed control?

1 Timaru reporter The Ministry of Agricul- • ture and Fisheries, the Iwainono Drainage Board, ; I and the Waitaki Acclimatisation Society will be asked : ! by the South Canterbury ' Catchment Board to in- . vestigate the feasibility of . introducing grass carp into ’ the Sir Charles Creek for . weed control. The creek is badly overgrown with weed. Trials with the fish in the . North Island ■ have shown that they do a good job, that they do not compete with

nor harm other fish, and that they do not breed naturally in New Zealand waters, the South Canterbury Board’s rivers and works committee has been told. Mr J. T. E. Bull, a senior ranger for the South Canterb u r y Acclimatisation Society, said not enough information was known about the carp and that the proposal should be taken very carefully.. He did not think that the use of carp would relieve the board of its responsibility to keep, drains cleared. . '

Mr W. S. Penno said there were no grounds for Mr Bull’s pouring cold water on the suggestion. Sir Charles Creek could be an ideal experimental area. The board’s chief engineer (Mr 0.. A. Stringer) said he had received a report on the use of goldfish in Germany to monitor pollution. When the goldfish was happy it sent out small electrical impulses which could be monitored electronically. Impurities in the water such as heavy metals and mercury compounds could be monitored using the goldfish;