More Southern states get creative to block Asian carp - Entrepreneur Generations

State and federal Fish & Wildlife officials have spent about $607 million altogether to stop the spread of Asian carp since 2004. As more Southern states try to stop the invasive species,  that total is expected to hit about $1.5 billion over the next decade.

"That’s more than five times the amount predicted in 2007 when a national carp management plan was crafted, and no end is in sight. Programs aim to reduce established populations and prevent further spreading, but wildlife officials concede they may never be able to eradicate the prolific fish," Travis Loller and John Flesher report for ABC News.

The invasive species reproduces rapidly and can kill off native species by eating or outcompeting them, which endangers fishing industries, habitats and tourism. Most of the money so far has been spent on largely successful efforts at keeping them from the Great Lakes, but "less money and attention have been paid to the carp’s virtually unchecked spread east and west into the Missouri and Ohio rivers, among others," Loller and Flesher report. But as the fish become increasingly well-established in the central U.S., especially the Mississippi River, but more Southern states are trying to keep them out of lakes.

Kentucky officials have been especially proactive in trying to get the carp out of Lake Barkley, a major tourist destination near the Mississippi River. Last year the state opened a processing facility, Two Rivers Fisheries, to sell Asian carp abroad since it's a popular food in China. A joint program between the state government and the processing facility pays local fishers for their Asian carp catches. Kentucky anglers brought in 6 million pounds of Asian carp last year, Loller and Flesher report.

But selling the fish as food has been less successful than hoped so far, since Chinese buyers like the fish fresh. Angie Yu, president of Two Rivers, said she's trying to promote the fish in Europe and the Middle East, Loller and Flesher report.

In late November, state and federal officials began testing some creative tactics to keep carp out of Lake Barkley and nearby Kentucky Lake, including using electric pulses and huge nets to capture them, along with flashing white lights, low-level noises and streams of bubbles to scare the fish away.





from The Rural Blog https://ift.tt/2SF6wO0 More Southern states get creative to block Asian carp - Entrepreneur Generations

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