after talking to some well educated people inthe fish industry this afternoon - they know who they are - i can see another problem which perhaps is going to totally wipe out everything in the river system which is already under stress.... in a tank scenario - which i know is totally different to a pond and also different to larger waterways as a river -> but what happens when one fish dies in your tank - it pollutes the water at an alarming rate and then we know what happens if you dont catch it time - domino effect - you lose all the fish in the tank to pollution of dead fish.... now pond scenario is similar but takes more time for this to happen... same idea applied to a river system.... or is it - the murray river system is so polluted in areas already it wouldnt take much to tip water pollution over the edge with dead carp happening everywhere and it would snowball and kill all your natives as well... have a totally dead river system... wont have to worry that virus kills only 90% of infected carp as the rest will die from severe water pollution.... and i know its suggested dead carp will be removed as quickly as possible... but with an estimated 80% bio mass of carp in the river who the hell is going to be able to clean that many carp up all at once... not all dead fish float... some sink... some will be caught up in the numerous river snags that exist... imagine the stench and further disease/bacterial/fungal infections polluted water will contribute to.... it wouldnt be out of the question to see everything dead in the river not so long after releasing this virus...
one other question perhaps syd might be able to help with... whats the sustainability of the virus once it hits salt water? assuming the virus will travel the length of the river and exist into the ocean eventually....
there doesnt seem to be any end point of this virus also... so it will be forever in the water.... if they could give the virus a life cycle or a half life then it will peter out in time and disappear and prob wouldnt be so daunting to everybody in the aquarium trade and aquaculture business...
releasing this virus could well be a huge mistake that our kids will be able to see with advancement in science and technology in years to come... release date is in 2018 at this point but im sure theres going to be huge anger and concern directed towards the government departments involved... the people releasing this virus have nothing financially to concern themselves with - they still get paid but could potentially destroy the incomes of a huge industry australia wide... and when you start to mess with peoples livelihoods there will be trouble...