Man faces jail for selling invasive fish

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26/09/2012
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27/09/2012

Man faces jail for selling invasive fish

A man who sold live Asian carp in a state where the fish are threatening a $7 billion industry is facing a jail sentence. Proving once again that stupidity knows no boundaries, David Shane Costner of Harrisburg, Arkansas, has pleaded guilty to a dozen felony charges. Each carries a maximum sentence of two years in prison and a fine of $2,000-$20,000.  Costner was caught after selling two grass carp  to undercover officers from the Department of Natural Resources. Investigators say he had been driving around Michigan selling the carp from parking lots. He admitted possessing and selling over 100 live Asian carp. There are serious fears that grass carp, along with other Asian species like silver and bighead carp, are set to invade the Great Lakes where their rapid reproduction, and ability to hoover up huge quantitites of fish on which other species depend, could wreck the $7 billion salmon industry.  Silver carp are notorious for jumping when frightened. Read story here.

Keith Elliott
Keith Elliott
Editor and publisher of Classic Angling magazine. Founder member of UK Angling Writers' Association and current chairman. Former winner of Writer of the Year. I wrote a weekly angling column for The Independent for 23 years, having previously written columns for The Guardian and Sunday Mirror. If it swims, I'll fish for it: marlin or mackerel, trout or tench, salmon or snook. I've written several books on fishing, from one for the Duke of Edinburgh's award to the notorious Catchmore Sharks (don't look at the pictures) and Bob Nudd's autobiography, How to be the World's Best Fisherman. I love exotic travel for fishing (been to Mongolia and Ecuador, the Great Barrier Reef and Arunachal Pradesh) and wish I could afford to do such trips more often. My favourite fish? Anything with fins, though I have a special love for mahseer, and I’m Founder and former Chairman of the Masher Trust.

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