Thread: Australian minister wants to destroy carp by releasing herpes virus into rivers

Twitter @vanbadham

Not content with telling Jonny Depp's dogs to "bugger off," Australia's new Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has moved onto his next target ... carp.

Joyce announced during a robust speech to a rowdy -- but entertained -- parliament that the only way to get rid of these "disgusting, bottom-dwelling, mud-sucking creatures" was to unleash a form of the herpes virus on them.

He then flew into an impassioned, if slightly bizarre, tirade that the internet immediately jumped on with glee.

It appeared that for the first -- and probably only -- time, carp became the most popular fish in Australia.

Infecting carp with herpes might seem like an overreaction, but on May 1 "Carpageddon" became official policy.

In an AUD$15 million ($11.4 million) plan to wipe the species out, the federal government announced that it will potentially release cyprinid herpesvirus (carp herpesvirus) into Australian waterways in 2018.

CSIRO calls carp the "most invasive and damaging pests" of Australia's freshwater ecosystems. First introduced in Australia in 1859, carp became a major problem in the 1960s, after the accidental release of a strain that had been adapted for fish farming.
The female carp produces up to a million eggs per year -- or as CSIRO put it, "they breed like rabbits."

"The common carp is a nasty pest in our waterways and makes up 80 percent of fish biomass in the Murray Darling Basin," Australia's Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Christopher Pyne, said in a statement.

According to the government, they threaten other species by causing erosion and out-competing native fish for food and resources, so a number of native fish are either vulnerable or threatened with extinction.

Joyce also estimates that the economic impact of carp is almost $400 million dollars a year.

So maybe there's cause for his carping on.

Australia wants to wipe out carp with herpes - CNN.com

Originally Posted by Hans Mann

"disgusting, bottom-dwelling, mud-sucking creatures"

Talking about politicians?

Surely there is a market for them? Can't they catch them and export them? Seemingly not.

Spot the difference time; Mainstream

Herpes virus to be used in fight against carp in Murray River, Christopher Pyne says - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

He said research by the CSIRO had shown the virus is safe, and has no impact on humans.

Matt Barwick, a senior fisheries manager with the Department of Primary Industries, said people in Israel eat carp with traces of the virus every day, and there was no evidence of health issues.

Scientific bods

https://www.newscientist.com/article...s-into-rivers/

The carp control plan will be the first example of a biocontrol strategy that uses a herpes virus, but the potential risks to humans are small,

However, as with any virus, resistance is likely to build up over time, he says. “We’ll probably have a window of about two to four years to really take advantage of it.”

So which is it? no risk, or small risk?

But fear not - it is brought to you by the worlds most weirdest Deputy Prime minster, Barnie Joyce. Just think, Aussies, Malc TURDFull slips on a cafe latte spillage incident, this freak Barnie will be your PM. The man can hardly speak!

Stupid. Put a bounty on them . Let the public do the work.

Australia Puts $1 Million Bounty on Carp - Wide Open Spaces

Well they are catching on.

Originally Posted by shaggersback

Australia Puts $1 Million Bounty on Carp - Wide Open Spaces

Well they are catching on.

Seems a little risky - some bloke catches the magic fish the first day, and boom, waste of money.

Why not get 10,000 immigrants in and tell them they can stay, free house etc, but are only allowed to eat carp, and they have to work 12 hours a day catching carp. Certainly Bernie's mate in the Pet Food company will buy all of the carp they catch. Hell, you could even do it with the unemployed. Here's your social check in return for bringing in 50 carp a day, that gets bought by the pet food and agri fertilzer firms, with the money going to the government.

What BErnie is actually proposing is using a lot of government money to GIVE all the fish to the pet food and fertilizer companies. In fact, I wonder if those firms are going to charge the Aussie tax pay for the privilege of "disposing" of the carp mountains?

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Originally Posted by shaggersback

Australia Puts $1 Million Bounty on Carp - Wide Open Spaces

Well they are catching on.

Seems a little risky - some bloke catches the magic fish the first day, and boom, waste of money.

Why not get 10,000 immigrants in and tell them they can stay, free house etc, but are only allowed to eat carp, and they have to work 12 hours a day catching carp. Certainly Bernie's mate in the Pet Food company will buy all of the carp they catch. Hell, you could even do it with the unemployed. Here's your social check in return for bringing in 50 carp a day, that gets bought by the pet food and agri fertilzer firms, with the money going to the government.

What BErnie is actually proposing is using a lot of government money to GIVE all the fish to the pet food and fertilizer companies. In fact, I wonder if those firms are going to charge the Aussie tax pay for the privilege of "disposing" of the carp mountains?

Yeah let in 10000 muppets great idea

Surely that's just going to cause them embarrassing social problems.

Can't they find something that will kill them, like fishy superTB?

Have you watched that video? What a fukin eejiot...

This what happens when you let Invasive species into Australia..didn't they have trouble with Frogs before

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasi...s_in_Australia

Originally Posted by boloa

This what happens when you let Invasive species into Australia..didn't they have trouble with Frogs before

No, it was white men.

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Seems a little risky - some bloke catches the magic fish the first day, and boom, waste of money

You really think theres a million dollar carp ???

Seriously tho .. Price by weight of fish. They could get rid of a lot of fish for 15 million Dollars.

Originally Posted by shaggersback

Originally Posted by pseudolus

Seems a little risky - some bloke catches the magic fish the first day, and boom, waste of money

You really think theres a million dollar carp ???

Seriously tho .. Price by weight of fish. They could get rid of a lot of fish for 15 million Dollars.

Probably not. Bernie would just one day hand the cash to one of his mates in a big celebration, and split it later.

Originally Posted by shaggersback

Stupid. Put a bounty on them . Let the public do the work.

The politicians?

Originally Posted by shaggersback

Stupid. Put a bounty on them . Let the public do the work.

Absolutely, good post.

Originally Posted by BobR

Originally Posted by shaggersback

Stupid. Put a bounty on them . Let the public do the work.

Absolutely, good post.

Too much collateral damage would be caused by naive public looking to fill their pockets. Leave it to experts.

I agree in the short term there may be environmental impact by a sudden influx of horny fisherman not wishing catch herpes.
. After the initial excitement abates the swelling should go down , the bubble will burst and hopefully they will all smell like fish , lie back and have a ciggie.

Originally Posted by Bettyboo

Have you watched that video? What a fukin eejiot...

Barnaby Joyce is a proper tool.

Herpes ... there goes the idea of catch, kiss and release.

Originally Posted by shaggersback

I agree in the short term there may be environmental impact by a sudden influx of horny fisherman not wishing catch herpes.
. After the initial excitement abates the swelling should go down , the bubble will burst and hopefully they will all smell like fish , lie back and have a ciggie.

Ha Ha ... spotted this one when looking for the photo i used above!

how about renaming it the carp whale and then inviting the Japanese to come over and do what comes naturally to their fishermen?

Originally Posted by Pragmatic

Originally Posted by boloa

This what happens when you let Invasive species into Australia..didn't they have trouble with Frogs before

No, it was white men.

White men, rabbits, dogs, cane toads, etc etc. I'm sure Herpes will do a great job.

Originally Posted by David48atTD

spotted this one when looking for the photo i used above!

Soo you didn't spot it in the very first opening post of this thread then? Right up at the top?

The Carp is also an invasive species in the U.K. As it was the Romans who introduced them.

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but this story is actually kind of frightening;

We do not know or understand everything about viruses, in fact there's no cure for the herpes viruses that affect humans. We also don't really know how they mutate. Sure, they're researching and running tests, but we just do not know enough about them

I'm not usually overly cautious, but considering our limited knowledge of viruses, and limited ability to kill them without harming those infected, releasing them in mass into Australia's waterways seems like the beginning of a potentially great horror movie.