We sent an invasive species overseas!

[bulletbob]

https://www.yahoo.com/news/invasive-blue-crab-wreaks-havoc-111159362.html

Blue Crabs in France where they won't eat them,, wtf?
They like eels better I guess..
Normally, I would feel bad and say we should have been more careful, but I just came back from cayuga lake,, It has been absolutely destroyed by invasives from the ballast water from European Ships.. Lake is loaded with Zebra Mussels, Quaga Mussles, Asian Clam,Spiny Fleas, Round Gobies..

The sunfish, rock bass, perch etc we used to catch with worms and bobbers are gone.. The only thing that a kid can catch from shore there these days, is Gobies.. Everything else is gone.. Bass that survive the onslaught of the Goby nest raiding get big but are tough to catch, because all they will eat are Gobies.

Caught a few nice bass using them for bait... You can no longer fish Cayuga with any type of natural bait other than large minnows as it is instantly swarmed by hundreds of those ugly little monsters.. So yeah, we sent Blueclaws over to compensate for the utter destruction Euro invasives wreaked on our big lakes.. Somehow I think maybe we got the worst of the deal... bob

[AndyS]

What we are doing as humans: we are homogenizing the earth. We are picking things up and moving them all over the place. I think California is up to 167 invasive species now. Look at Snakeheads, no way those fish would have been able to swim thousands of miles from their original homes, we moved them in a few years. I'm always amazed at Mother Nature because there is no excess, so everything balances out. Throw humans into the mix picking up things and putting them down it's thrown the whole system out of whack, it was bound to happen. Look at the Spotted Lantern flies, another invasive story.

[june181901]

Lantern flies are here in NJ. My daughter-in-law killed two last night in Sea Bright and reported it to the appropriate state agency.

[dakota560]

What we are doing as humans: we are homogenizing the earth. We are picking things up and moving them all over the place. I think California is up to 167 invasive species now. Look at Snakeheads, no way those fish would have been able to swim thousands of miles from their original homes, we moved them in a few years. I'm always amazed at Mother Nature because the is no excess, so everything balances out. Throw humans into the mix picking up things and putting them down it's thrown the whole system out of whack, it was bound to happen. Look at the Spotted Lantern flies, another invasive story.

Andy,

The spotted lantern fly is going to wreak havoc on the agricultural industry in this country. Pa was reportedly the entry point from China about 5 years ago and the population spread In Pa. is out of control. Warren and Hunterdon counties are two of maybe a dozen counties in NJ under quarantine, they're all over the place. Approximately 70 plants, trees and crops they focus on with Tree of Heaven, White Birch and vineyards being at the top of the list. They say they can destroy an entire vineyard in one year and they're heading into NY, not good. Couple pictures of adults locally.

[NJ219bands]

Lantern flies are here in NJ. My daughter-in-law killed two last night in Sea Bright and reported it to the appropriate state agency.
Saw three different kinds in Carnegie Lake recently.
https://YouTube.be/UJgShoQcrrw.

[AndyS]

I remember when they said those Japanese beetles were going to devastate the agricultural interests in New Jersey, what happened, ?

[dakota560]

Saw three different kinds in Carnegie Lake recently.
https://YouTube.be/UJgShoQcrrw.

Black is early nymph stage, red late nymph stage and then the adult which is what was on the trees.

[dakota560]

I remember when they said those Japanese beetles were going to devastate the agricultural interests in New Jersey, what happened, ?

Have no idea, hope the experts are wrong but there's already been significant damage to vineyards in Pa. so time will tell. Either way, haven't come across anything that suggests states are close to stoping the spread or eradicating the problem.

[Flygaff]

I'm in middlesex. I see 40-50 a day in my yard

[Duffman]

I'm in middlesex. I see 40-50 a day in my yard

Same here. Until this year I didn’t know what the hell a latern fly was. The blacktop out back of the shop is LOADED with em. By the 1,000’s. They hide in the shade beneath every piece of equipment we have. Fast as a MF too. Tough to stomp out.

[dakota560]

Same here. Until this year I didn’t know what the hell a latern fly was. The blacktop out back of the shop is LOADED with em. By the 1,000’s. They hide in the shade beneath every piece of equipment we have. Fast as a MF too. Tough to stomp out.

Think they have spring loaded feet, try stepping on them and they jump about 5 feet. Same here Duffman, until this year I never heard of them before but they're in about a dozen states and spreading rapidly. They're going to do damage to trees, plants and agriculture I'm afraid. They secrete a sticky excrement that gets moldy and resembles a thin layer of black tar on anything underneath the trees they're reproducing in. The nymphs actually resemble ticks on steroids, nasty looking.

Duffman I'm in Hunterdon County, Califon specifically. If you don't mind me asking where are you located?

[Wilson]

Same here. Until this year I didn’t know what the hell a latern fly was. The blacktop out back of the shop is LOADED with em. By the 1,000’s. They hide in the shade beneath every piece of equipment we have. Fast as a MF too. Tough to stomp out.


Many in Berkeley Heights where I work too.
Try coming at them head on as they seem to jump forward and freeze just long enough to smash'em.

[Jigman13]

Killed my 1st two in spotswood last week. One hit me right in the chest. Insecticidal soap kills them. Pure Castile soap, water and veg oil to emulsify. I use it in my garden to kill squash bugs, ear wigs, aphids and cucumber beetles. Tried it on the lantern fly and it croaked with a few good shots.

Load up a pump sprayer and soak them. Maybe add some 5 to 10% vinegar to burn em up.

Weve already lost the battle. Theres no stopping them. I saw a tree by my back bay fluke spot loaded w them. Looked like the bark was moving

[bulletbob]

Yeah, tell me about tree killing bugs... Up here we have Emerald Ash Borers.. They have killed every single ash tree in my yard.[almost 3 acres]. ALL of them.. NY state was full of Ash trees.Probably the most common tree besides various Pines.. They are all gone I think, if not gone they are on their way. Just devasting loss everywhere you see a tree line or a wooded area..anyway, this thread has gone a bit sideways..

It was meant as tongue in cheek look at the desirable and delicious Blue Crab seen as an invader by the French, while we get stuck with Grass Carp, Snakeheads, Walking Catfish, Boas, Pythons, etc.

Gobies fleas, and mussels that have decimated the huge lakes in NY, and the Great Lakes basin etc... They sent us green crabs and we sent them blue claws... I'd rather have blue claws... bob

[dakota560]

Bob the Emerald Ash Borer has taken its toll on Ash Trees here as well. Almost all the Ash trees are infected, many marked with a line of paint to be cut down in the near future for safety reasons and due to damage done by the EAB. Big trees indigenous to the states, important to the hardwood industry and just decimated in a few years time. We keep relying on imports from questionable areas around the world and expect more of the same. You can't possibly check every shipment coming in and it only takes one to start the problem.

[akoop]

Bob the Emerald Ash Borer has taken its toll on Ash Trees here as well. Almost all the Ash trees are infected, many marked with a line of paint to be cut down in the near future for safety reasons and due to damage done by the EAB. Big trees indigenous to the states, important to the hardwood industry and just decimated in a few years time. We keep relying on imports from questionable areas around the world and expect more if the same. You can't possibly check every shipment coming in and it only takes one to start the problem.

My property backs up to a county park and the parks department came around and marked the ash trees that were infested and then had a tree service cut them down. Total of 6 trees taken down on my property line, many others deeper in the woods are now dead. The parks guy told me 85% of the ash trees in the park are infested and will die. He said there is a way to kill the EAB by injecting something into the tree but it would cost around $300/tree.

[Brewlugger]

We also have the Hemlock wooly Adelgid from Asia. Not many Hemlock trees left here in North Jersey.

[Capt. Debbie]

This has got to be one of the darkest most depressing "Saltwater Fishing Reports" ever posted here. It started with french bluecrabs and ended in bugs...LMOA.

[Fun King]

Every earthworm in the northeast is introduced. After the glaciers left there were none.

[dakota560]

We've had our share of posts of family members and long time great people involved in the fishing industry who have passed over the last two years the result of a variety of reasons, endured horror stories about the most devastating health crisis in our lifetime so I'd hardly label this thread the darkest most depressing report ever posted here. And what started as an informative post about the impacts of invasive species to the Great Lakes and Finger Lakes continued with impacts new invasive species are threatening natural resources and agriculture locally which happens to be the third leading industry in New Jersey.

If that's the kind of stuff that makes you laugh, that might actually be the most depressing thought posted on this site.