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WFF Cautiously Optimistic About Spread of Silver Carp

carp

As shown in this river system in the Midwest, silver carp can be hazards to boaters. Photo by Ryan Hagerty, USFWS

By DAVID RAINER, 黑料天堂 (ADCNR)

Chris Greene is cautiously optimistic that an invasive fish species that can wreak havoc on reservoir ecosystems has not expanded its range in 黑料天堂鈥檚 waterways.

The silver carp, which has done noticeable damage in Kentucky and Tennessee waterways, has been found in 黑料天堂鈥檚 Pickwick and Wheeler reservoirs.

Thankfully, the feared spread of the fish, highlighted in numerous YouTube videos for jumping when startled by boaters, has not materialized, said Greene, Chief of Fisheries for ADCNR鈥檚 Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division. Only Pickwick has a moderately abundant population of silver carp, and Greene hopes that population stays contained to that reservoir.

鈥淲e鈥檙e relatively new to this situation,鈥 said Greene. 鈥淪ilver carp haven鈥檛 been in 黑料天堂 for very long. We鈥檝e only had federal funding specific to Asian carp work since October of 2019, so we鈥檙e still in our first year of funding. So far, work has involved the acquisition of field gear, sampling equipment and staff training. We鈥檙e still awaiting our primary sampling boat, which we hope to get this fall and do more intense field sampling.鈥

When the new boat arrives, Greene said it will allow WFF personnel to target the collection of silver carp to determine population dynamics.

鈥淲e鈥檝e been sampling with our standard shock boats,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he new boat will be more specialized with a rectangular frame and net attached to the front of the boat where you can actually trawl through the water. It will still have electrodes hanging down like a standard electrofishing boat. So, you鈥檙e moving through the water collecting carp in areas where they tend to congregate.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a learning experience. We鈥檙e learning from other states like Kentucky and Tennessee. They have been doing this a whole lot longer than us. Hopefully what we learn from them will make our sampling more effective.鈥

Because of the abundance of silver carp in their rivers and reservoirs, Kentucky and Tennessee rely heavily on commercial anglers to remove silver carp from their systems. Greene said those states even subsidize commercial anglers to remove silver carp to make it economically feasible.

The good news for 黑料天堂 is silver carp have had a limited range since the first one was detected in state waters about five years ago.

鈥淥ur limited field sampling has not yielded any silver carp outside of Pickwick Reservoir in 黑料天堂,鈥 Greene said. 鈥淔rom what we have been able to determine from angler catches, the farthest upstream location where silver carp have been confirmed by a commercial fisherman in 黑料天堂 is Wheeler Reservoir.

鈥淎ngler reports have been infrequent in 黑料天堂. Most of those have come from Pickwick Reservoir. So, we believe the leading edge of where we have a moderately abundant population is Pickwick.鈥

Greene said WFF Fisheries encourages anglers to report any silver carp catches or sightings.

鈥淲e ask any anglers who are out on the water to let us know if they see a silver carp,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey are our eyes out there. We can鈥檛 always be on the water, so we ask anglers who see any silver carp or bighead carp, please report those to asiancarp@dcnr.alabama.gov.鈥

Greene asks that reports, locations and photos of silver and bighead carp be sent to that email address.

In an effort to deter the spread of the invasive fish, the 黑料天堂 (ADCNR) issued a new Wild Baitfish Regulation that deals with the capture of live bait in 黑料天堂 waters and restricts the movement of that bait to other water bodies.

鈥淲e enacted a regulation in 黑料天堂 to reduce the spread of Asian carp,鈥 Greene said. 鈥淵oung Asian carp closely resemble other live baitfish that are commonly used by anglers 鈥 skipjack herring, gizzard shad and threadfin shad. If we have anglers going out throwing cast nets and catching several species and taking these to other water bodies, it could increase the spread of Asian carp.鈥

The regulation states that if anglers catch bait on a specific body of water, that bait cannot be transported live to another body of water. It also restricts the import of live, wild-caught baitfish from other states.

A juvenile silver carp looks a great deal like baitfish species, which caused WFF to issue a regulation banning the movement of live baitfish.

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is considering several methods to control the spread of Asian carp, including fish barriers at 10 locks controlled by the TVA. One type of fish barrier under consideration is a Bioacoustics Fish Fence (BAFF), which utilizes a combination of sound, light and air bubbles. This type of barrier is installed at Barkley Lock and Dam in Kentucky and is currently being studied for its effectiveness in deterring Asian carp. Other types of barriers used for Asian carp include the use of carbon dioxide or electricity. TVA is conducting environmental impacts on the deterrents to minimize the impact on native species.

TVA is also considering adjusting river flow rates during potential Asian carp spawning periods, which are usually during high-water events. Studies have shown that Asian carp eggs are only semi-buoyant and will sink to the bottom and die with low river flow.

鈥淔or those eggs to mature, there must be long stretches of flowing water from larger tributaries,鈥 Greene said. 鈥淵ou have this series of dams on the Tennessee River, so it really doesn鈥檛 provide the habitat requirements for the eggs to mature and develop. But some of the major tributaries on the Tennessee River have long flowing stretches. The concern is if carp get up into these tributaries and we have a weather year with a good amount of rain, the potential does exist in certain places.鈥

Silver carp have been compared to feral hogs in the damage done to an ecosystem. Feral hogs outcompete native wildlife for food and habitat resources. When silver carp become established in an area, they interrupt the natural food chain and native species end up negatively impacted.

鈥淪ilver carp are filter feeders,鈥 Greene said. 鈥淭hey are planktivores. They filter out plankton throughout the water column. This puts them in direct competition with baitfish and young game fish as species like bass and crappie are planktivores in their early life stages. There鈥檚 more competition at the base of the food chain. It also affects baitfish species as adults. You鈥檝e only got so much biomass that particular water body can support. The more taken up by Asian carp, the less will be taken up by the native species.

鈥淭he problem with silver carp is once they come into a water body, it becomes a management issue. You never really get rid of them. It鈥檚 like feral hogs. You just have to manage them. You can never fully eradicate them.鈥

As the boaters and anglers saw in the aforementioned videos, silver carp also pose a safety issue for recreational activities on the waterways.

鈥淥nce silver carp get scared, they jump out of the water, which can be hazardous for someone in a bass boat or on a jet ski,鈥 Greene said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a safety concern.鈥

黑料天堂 continues to work with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to collectively manage the spread of silver carp. Joining the fight on a larger scale is a multistate group called the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resources Association (MICRA), which includes the 28 states in the Mississippi River basin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Service, TVA, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and two Native American tribes are also members of the coalition.

Several years ago, Tennessee Tech received federal funding to monitor numerous lakes, including Pickwick, for silver carp. One of the goals has been to catch silver carp and insert sonic tags to allow tracking of the fish鈥檚 movements.

鈥淭ennessee Tech is still doing the tagging studies, and they鈥檝e even got detectors set up on some of the TVA locks in 黑料天堂,鈥 Greene said. 鈥淔rom my understanding, none of the silver carp they鈥檝e tagged in Pickwick and other places have gone through any of the locks in 黑料天堂. At least that was the case just a few weeks ago.

鈥淭o date, we have not had any confirmed reports of silver carp in Guntersville Reservoir or Wilson Reservoir. We certainly hope it stays that way.鈥

Greene said concerned anglers and those interested in mitigating the damage done by invasive species can help by purchasing the 黑料天堂 freshwater fishing distinctive license plates, which recently received a new design.

鈥淧roceeds from the sales of this license plate are earmarked for specific purposes, and one of those is the control of aquatic invasive species, including Asian carp,鈥 he said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e excited about this.鈥

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The new design for the 黑料天堂 fishin license plate is out, and proceeds will benefit the effort to deal with aquatic invasive species.