Any updates on how to eradicate Asian Carp?

[John Wells]

I've read a lot about them, they've jumped in my boat and slimed my tackle like the ghost in Ghost Busters.

As of late 2013, are there any developments or plans on how to eradicate them?

[going deep]

Why do the bow fisherman get to have all the fun? Let us use shotguns

[Craig Johnson]

I've read a lot about them, they've jumped in my boat and slimed my tackle like the ghost in Ghost Busters.

As of late 2013, are there any developments or plans on how to eradicate them?

SeaArk,

There are quite a few studies looking at these fish and possible ways to get a handle on their numbers but no 'silver bullet' has been discovered yet. Right now the best weapon against them is containment. Hopefully a solution will be found in the near future.

[Craig Johnson]

Here's an interesting video on the use of commercial fishing to harvest asian carp. The video contains a lot of good info on the impacts of this nuisance species.

[John Wells]

Thanks Craig. I guess I got a little weirded out when the carp started slamming into the side of my boat and jumping inside. The sound of them hitting the side of the boat sounds like someone slugging it hard with their fist. Kind of alarming. I wish they were gone from the rivers.

[fishingtim]

Here's an interesting video on the use of commercial fishing to harvest asian carp. The video contains a lot of good info on the impacts of this nuisance species.

Thanks for the video link. That's insane the numbers they were pulling out of those lakes.

[bluebasser86]

I would think this would be a pretty viable way to at least help curb the population of carp in the rivers and lakes. I wish they would have offered some numbers on how many game fish were caught/killed as a result. I tried to watch pretty closely and only saw one catfish and a couple other carp/buffalo caught in the video. I'm assuming since these carp are filter feeders that they can set floating nets away from cover and structure that attracts most game fish and still catch the carp while reducing the number of incidentals, which is obviously one of the main concerns. I'm curious where the prize money for the tournament came from also. Even if the state provided all the winnings (14k that I saw) it would have cost them about $.17 a pound of fish removed, that seems pretty cost effective to me. If they had an entry fee for each team then it cost them even less and they were getting an even better deal. It would be interesting for them to continue this and see if it has any real impact on the numbers or if it's just too little too late.

[zummy]

It says here that very few sportfish were caught
https://fw.ky.gov/carpmadnessinfo.asp

[Craig Johnson]

It says here that very few sportfish were caught
https://fw.ky.gov/carpmadnessinfo.asp

The commercial fishermen that we have working in Kansas lakes use a large size mesh on their nets and most sportfish will fit through the nets and not be caught. The roughfish that are targeted are normally larger on average and incidental catch of sportfish is minimal. Gill nets can be quite selective in the size of fish caught.