carpageddon

[Ken Gargett]

This is our deputy prime minister speaking about the campaign to remove carp from the waterways (introduced species).

Same bloke as politician who refused to allow johnny depp to bring in his dogs.

https://www.facebook.com/abcnews.au/videos/10155074825144988/Thought you might enjoy this.

[Fugu]

Seriously? 15 Mio $$ to eradicate carp...? Good luck!

Send him over to us, we need a doer to get rid of Chinese mitten crab from European water ways, Pacific oyster from the waddens etc. etc...

The treatment of introduced/invasive species is a complex matter - too complex for some trumpian-format politicians....

[Ken Gargett]

Seriously? 15 Mio $$ to eradicate carp...? Good luck!

Send him over to us, we need a doer to get rid of Chinese mitten crab from European water ways, Pacific oyster from the waddens etc. etc...

The treatment of introduced/invasive species is a complex matter - too complex for some trumpian-format politicians....

i would normally agree 100% but i talked to some wineries years ago that were working on it in their particular area and actually had good success. gave me hope it is possible. i doubt they'll ever get rid of the lot unless they come up with another pest - and that always works well - or something new.

[TomF]

In all fairness carp are pretty disgusting.

[Fugu]

I'll hope for you. Let's talk again in five years, Ken....

But agreed, there might be a higher chance as with other species. Still 15 Mio appears pretty tiny a program, but admitted I am not familiar with the current extent of your carp problem.

[wabashcr]

Asian Carp are on the verge of taking over the Great Lakes and wiping out a $9B fishing industry. They're an invasive species that completely crowds out all the native fish wherever they go. They've been ruining waterways coming from the south, and have just about hit Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. It's a pretty serious problem in the midwest US.

They also like to jump. This video was taken on the Wabash River in western Indiana, about an hour from where I live:

[ChefBoyRG54]

Asian Carp are on the verge of taking over the Great Lakes and wiping out a $9B fishing industry. They're an invasive species that completely crowds out all the native fish wherever they go. They've been ruining waterways coming from the south, and have just about hit Lake Michigan and Lake Erie. It's a pretty serious problem in the midwest US.

They also like to jump. This video was taken on the Wabash River in western Indiana, about an hour from where I live:

Got to bring the baseball bat with you and take a few swings:)

[Ken Gargett]

ours have not taken to jumping as yet.

but it is a massive issue here as well. more for the destruction of the habitat and other species than a fishing industry. but i must admit when i first heard it, i thought that $15 mill way too low, unless they have a plan.

[westg]

hilarious ..thankyou Ken

[Jeremy Festa]

Awesome.

On topic... One of my fondest childhood memories was working on my mate's orange farm down in Leeton. Learning to graft all sorts of weird citruses. And their irrigation channels were deep and full of carp. When the big ones were swimming down the channel, they would produce a little bow wake in front of their heads, and we used to run along side them with a pitching fork and literally skewer the farkers from the air above. I vividly recall the 30 pound monster I skewered on school holidays when I was 14. We pissed ourselves laughing at how unbelievable it was! So. Much. Fun.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OZCUBAN]

And that's before we get on to the subject that is CANE TOAD

[Dave O)))]

And foxes and cats and pigs and Lantana and....

[mcease022]

Seriously? 15 Mio $$ to eradicate carp...? Good luck!

Send him over to us, we need a doer to get rid of Chinese mitten crab from European water ways, Pacific oyster from the waddens etc. etc...

The treatment of introduced/invasive species is a complex matter - too complex for some trumpian-format politicians....

Carp eat the vegetation in the lakes, which leaves no habitat for other fish to bread and for the little ones to hide from other predators. Introducing one invasive species to rid another doesn't make much sense. I would gladly hear that they would be ridding them from our lakes here in Canada.

[perkinke]

We have the same problem in Oregon in some of our lakes. At diamond lake they essentially killed all the fish (I think with electrocution) and then reintroduced native fish. Worked for a while but the carp keep coming back. I don't know if some jackasses are using them as live bait or if they are just that tough to eradicate.

[Warren]

I remember being down at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri back in the 90's and they were pretty thick in there then.

[Ken Gargett]

We have the same problem in Oregon in some of our lakes. At diamond lake they essentially killed all the fish (I think with electrocution) and then reintroduced native fish. Worked for a while but the carp keep coming back. I don't know if some jackasses are using them as live bait or if they are just that tough to eradicate.

i don't believe that the plan is to introduce any other species but i am not sure exactly what it is they have planned, if anything.

we have had trouble with exactly that and hopefully have learnt.

someone introduced the cane beetle many years ago and so idiots introduced the cane toad. a disaster. plenty of other examples.

[El Presidente]

Seriously? 15 Mio $$ to eradicate carp...? Good luck!

I would put a bounty on Carp. $4 a head. Watch the rush

Allocate $1 per fish for the collection and disposal costs. Every dam/waterway/region has a fish stocking society. Pay them the $1 per fish to manage it. All they need to do is verify and electronically submit the catch...then bury in a pit.

3 million fish a year gone.

[Ken Gargett]

I would put a bounty on Carp. $4 a head. Watch the rush

Allocate $1 per fish for the collection and disposal costs. Every dam/waterway/region has a fish stocking society. Pay them the $1 per fish to manage it. All they need to do is verify and electronically submit the catch...then bury in a pit.

3 million fish a year gone.

which is an excellent idea but the problem with schemes like that is that fred nurk sees the dollars and just launches in, catching as much as he can and not caring what it is. all the native fish get caught as well. some might return them but a lot won't.

that said, we might be getting close to the need to try something like that. they are stuffed otherwise so give it a try.

[Ken Gargett]

this from the CSIRO. seems they might have a possible solution.

Reducing Australia’s carp invasion

CSIRO scientists are undertaking rigorous tests to determine the safety and suitability of the candidate biocontrol agent Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3) in managing European carp numbers in Australia.

THE CHALLENGE European carp – an invasive species of Australian waterways

A European carp. Image: Dirk-Jan Kraan/Flickr

European carp (Cyprinus carpio) is a pest that adversely affects the health of our rivers and wetlands. It was first introduced to Australian waterways more than 100 years ago and has since established in every state except the Northern Territory. Able to tolerate a wide range of conditions and habitats, including low-oxygen and brackish water, it is considered one of the country’s major aquatic pests since it massively spread through the Murray-Darling Basin in the late 1980s. Previously held in check by the drought, recent years of flooding rains have brought our river systems back to life, and as a result the carp population has again expanded. This puts increasing pressure on our waterways and native wildlife.

OUR RESPONSE Curbing carp numbers

A recently identified candidate biological control agent may one day keep carp numbers in check. Our scientists are currently investigating a highly specific viral disease called cyprinid herpesvirus-3, also known as koi herpesvirus (KHV), to help manage carp numbers in Australia. The virus first appeared in Israel in 1998, and spread rapidly throughout much of the world, although not to Australia or New Zealand. It causes high death rates in common carp and in the ornamental koi carp. No other species of fish, including goldfish, are known to be affected by the virus.

We are undertaking our research within the world’s most sophisticated high containment facility - the CSIRO Australian Animal Health Laboratory, where we are performing rigorous tests to determine the safety and suitability of the virus for controlling carp.

THE RESULTS Carp herpesvirus could stem the tide

We have identified that CyHV-3 does kill Australian pest carps, and it kills them quickly. Current research has also shown that the virus does not develop in native Australian or any other introduced species of fish.

Over the next few years we’ll continue to test the susceptibility of other fish and amphibian species to CyHV-3 and address questions regarding the safety of possible widespread distribution of the virus, both for people and other animal species. This work is supported by the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre and the release program is led by the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries.

We will also continue to consult widely with conservation groups, recreational fishers and resource managers.

[MIKA27]

I truly miss fishing here in Australia without bagging a carp...

I recall fishing and hunting every school holidays. In the early 80's you can throw your line in the river and surely catch a Murray Cod, Red Fin (Yes I know these too are introduced perch), yellow belly etc and they were good eating. We would only catch what we would eat that day and maybe 1 in 10 fish were carp. For well over the past 15 years +, now when you go to the Murray River, Goulburn River and the like, it's easily 6 in 10 that are carp.

Forgetting the numbers caught, the damage these carp do to the entire water system is horrifying.

[westg]

I would put a bounty on Carp. $4 a head. Watch the rush

Allocate $1 per fish for the collection and disposal costs. Every dam/waterway/region has a fish stocking society. Pay them the $1 per fish to manage it. All they need to do is verify and electronically submit the catch...then bury in a pit.

3 million fish a year gone.

I like this idea ...but would every other species get hammered as well.?

[Ken Gargett]

I like this idea ...but would every other species get hammered as well.?

westie, my point exactly.

it is a bit like we have to destroy the village to save it. absolute last resort only.

that carp herpes virus seems very promising.

[Fugu]

westie, my point exactly.

it is a bit like we have to destroy the village to save it. absolute last resort only.

that carp herpes virus seems very promising.

Challenge will be to guarantee it's retaining its specificity. Problem with viruses is they can mutate and evolve quickly and thus can also change their host spectrum. If they'd affect other fish of the cypirinid family it will be a desaster. You don't have cyprinids in Australia, but it could spread back to other continents.

So, still, I say 15 Mio is just nothing for research into this...

[Ken Gargett]

Challenge will be to guarantee it's retaining its specificity. Problem with viruses is they can mutate and evolve quickly and thus can also change their host spectrum. If they'd affect other fish of the cypirinid family it will be a desaster. You don't have cyprinids in Australia, but it could spread back to other continents.

So, still, I say 15 Mio is just nothing for research into this...

i agree re the money

it is worth noting the CSIRO is a world leader in all this stuff. australia is really careful now about this sort of stuff. learnt the hard way. the very hard way.