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.