Thread: Asian carp info

Originally Posted by slabseeker1

While looking at the video and seeing the graphs, do we have an idea when the Asian carp invaded?


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The first Silver carp ever collected in the lake was in 2004. However, the first invaders probably entered through the locks in the late 90's. There was a spawn in the tailwaters and possibly the lake in 2010. (no juveniles were observed in the lake, but its possible). They also spawned successfully in the tailwaters in 2015 (in 2015 juveniles were observed in the lake, but the jury is still out on whether they actually successfully spawned in the lake). The vast majority of silvers in the lake right now are from 2015. There is some research being conducted right now to help determine the exact origin of some of the juveniles observed in the lake in 2015. (its called otolith microchemistry: basically the otoliths are removed, cut in half to expose to oldest center portion and then that portion is burned with a tiny laser and the gases given off are analyzed for the proportions of certain molecules). Its a bit technical but it can tell you what the water chemistry was like at the time that part of the otolith formed. Because each water body has slightly different water chemistry, that water chemistry data can then be used to determine which water body or area of a water body the fish was swimming in at the time that part of the otolith was formed.

Adam,
can you comment on the possibility of another large silver carp kill from the cold weather? As nasty as the kill was last year for property owners on the lake, it did give many of us hope that some kind of biological event could take out huge numbers of them like the kills below the dams a few years ago.

I worry about shad kills from the cold water temps. We don't need to lose any of them.

Originally Posted by mrdux

Adam,
can you comment on the possibility of another large silver carp kill from the cold weather? As nasty as the kill was last year for property owners on the lake, it did give many of us hope that some kind of biological event could take out huge numbers of them like the kills below the dams a few years ago.

I worry about shad kills from the cold water temps. We don't need to lose any of them.

Another large carp kill is certainly possible this year. However, the possibility of the same type of large kill will go up if we see a warmer winter rather than a cold one. Warmer water will increase the fish's metabolism and increase the likelihood of bacterial infections. Any prediction about that would be a guess at best, but my educated guess is that yes, a large spring carp kill is likely.