WTF is a Kiyi?

       The short answer is a fish.  The kiyi is a fish.  You have never heard of this fish and neither, apparently, has my spell checker.  The kiyi is a fish that is supposed to be in ridiculous proliferation in the great lakes, as is the cisco, the bloater, many types of sculpin, the harelip sucker, many types of herring, and the lake sturgeon, as well as a host of others.  The Atlantic salmon, (silver to many of you) was native to only lake Ontario, so could be considered a "native species" of sorts.  But only here.  It is an introduced species in the pacific northwest.  (sorry, its true).  The Lake trout is the only large sport-fish, currently in any numbers, that has any business in the Great Lakes.

       http://www.glfc.org/research/Nativefish.htm

http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/envt/fish/fish_4.html

       As fascinating as those two pages are, please take a moment and peruse the next link.  Along the left, in blue, is a list of the non-native species now in the great lakes.  Each is a link that will tell you more about the fish.  http://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/greatlakesfish/nofnonindig.html 
       Notice anything odd?  Anything at all?  Something like; every single "sport-fishing" species is either invasive, or introduced.  Some, like the salmon, are aggressively stocked every year.  Why would this bother a lifelong fisherman, like myself?
       We spend tons of cash (yes, literally) to stock the great lakes with introduced species.  We spend even more money trying to control "invasive species" like Asian carp and zebra mussels.  The short version is that depending on the species we are wasting a lot of money to stock, or de-stock certain species.
       The exact cost is proving difficult to pin down.  I know you expect better of me than this excuse; I expect better of me too.  But the Great Lakes are bordered by many states, several provinces, two countries, and multiple DNR's, each of which has their own budgeting, stocking strategy, and poorly maintained public information sites.

       So when we hear these news reports about the horrible infestations of invasive species threatening our native fish in the Great Lakes; think back on the first paragraph here.  Those aren't the "Native" species they are talking about.  They are talking about the Salmon, that have no business there in the first place.

       Thanks go out to my brother in law, who speaks on this topic a lot.  Also, he is invited to write his own posts, (on any topic he likes) here.  (Seriously Gob, just let me know and I'll add you as an author.)