A trailer full of fish might have once indicated a bountiful fishing trip for many anglers. But a recent photo showing just that has highlighted the disturbing reality in Aussie waterways.
Rivers across the country are being taken over by invasive fish species and authorities are taking massive steps to fix the problem. Councils have been attempting to remove the threats such as carp and goldfish by the trailer load with Greater Shepparton City Council recently removing hundreds of invasive carp and goldfish from a series of local lakes and wetlands in a massive five-day electrofishing effort.
“VFA and the Victorian Government are working with the Federal Government and leading fisheries researchers to develop a plan on how we can best reduce carp numbers,” a spokesperson told Yahoo News Australia, adding it’s supportive of “fishers catching carp in order to reduce their numbers.”
This particular effort saw 427 carp, ranging from 25-75cm, and 556 goldfish were removed from waterways to “allow the waterways to recover from their carp-induced damage.” From one lake, 750kg of carp were removed.
“It’s been a massive effort, and their fifth major project to reduce the biomass of carp in their patch since 2012,” the authority said.
Carp is a major contributor in displacing native fish, causing some to be listed as rare or threatened as well as smothering aquatic vegetation by stirring up water and contributing to harmful blue-green algal blooms.
In Victoria, carp is declared a noxious aquatic species, which means that it is an offence to possess, transport and release live carp or use it as fishing bait. While it may be eaten in Victoria and New South Wales, eating the fish in Queensland is prohibited.
It’s prohibited to eat carp in some states. Source: Facebook
Plan to infect millions of invasive fish with herpes virus
The huge effort in Shepparton highlights the ongoing battle to keep carp populations down in waterways.
“That’s why we’re developing a plan to trial the controlled release of the carp virus in Victoria, pending approval by the Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry,” it said, referring to the National Carp Control Plan.
The plan would see a herpes virus released into river systems to kill off invasive carp. It’s understood that as the plan is yet to be approved, there is no timeline for this taking place.
It’s expected that the carp virus could reduce populations by up to 60 per cent.
Sharing his thoughts on the plan, Invasive Species Council acting CEO Jack Gough told Yahoo last month the plan is “not a silver bullet, but it will allow much greater control. He highlighted that there’s not a good solution to the issue of carp.
While industry leaders were successful in destroying the species in Tasmania, on the mainland they are thriving. So much so, Charles Sturt University’s Dr Ivor Stuart told Yahoo they could even spread into the tropics, into the Snowy Mountain’s pristine mountain streams, and new parts of Western Australia.
But not everyone agrees with the plan, with local business owners concerned doing so will harm an already struggling tourism industry. Tracy Hill from Coorong Wild Seafood, southeast of Adelaide, previously told Yahoo the intended deaths of millions of feral fish could create “a big, stinky rotten carp soup” in waterways, potentially devastating local businesses.
Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.