In this week's Fish and Game Report, we're talking about an invasive fish that's a dangerous threat to both Louisiana native species and fishermen: Asian carp.
"The Asian Carp are planktivores, which are basically your lower level of the food chain physically and that's what a lot of your smaller fish eat," said Alex Perret, program manager with the Louisiana Dept. of Wildlife & Fisheries.
"These fish get very big and reproduce at an alarming rate, so not only do they crowd out native fish but they also compete for the food source."
"I was videoing the other boats and let my guard down looking through tunnel vision and a fish came right up, smacked me in the side of the camera, but fortunately we were okay," said Martha Spencer, our Bayou Wild TV co-host.
"The danger of those flying fish...they jump up to ten twelve feet in the air and a thirty pounder, when you ride in a boat, hits you in the face and could literally kill you," said Chef Philippe Parola of Can't Beat 'Em, Eat 'Em.
We're here at the water control structure right off of Old River. The purpose of being here today is we've got Wildlife and Fisheries with shocking boats. We want to measure the degree of the population of invasive silver carp.
"The only solution we've got in Louisiana - we have to face reality versus all the states up north where they have sonars and all the type of technology that cost taxpayers a ton of money," said Chef Philippe. "We don't have that luxury here, the only solution we have is commercial harvest."
So these fish are definitely a threat to the fisheries of Louisiana and hopefully we've got the solution to help control them.
"If you happen to catch one or have one jump into your boat, it is against the law to release these Asian carp back into the waters alive," said Perret.