The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FDRC) has called for public help in keeping track of populations of the pest fish carp in Australia’s waterways.
Launching a new online survey tool, CARPMAP, the Government-run corporation urged recreational fishers, Landcare volunteers, farmers, tourists and all members of the public to report on carp numbers and activities.
Coordinator of the National Carp Control Plan (NCCP), Matt Barwick said FDRC wanted to know about observations of more than 20 carp together (called an aggregation).
“The survey is easy to do and only takes a few minutes of your time and will help support future carp management plans in Australia,” Mr Barwick said.
“Understanding carp aggregations, not just locally but at a national scale, will be critical for an effective national approach to carp control.”
He said FDRC had already trialled a successful community survey to map carp aggregations in the Lachlan catchment in NSW.
“Now we want a get a national picture, to not only inform our research program but to support future carp management strategies,” Mr Barwick said.
Scientist from the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, Peter Durr is leading NCCP research to understand how a carp virus, known as Cyprinid herpesvirus 3, could be effectively released into Australian waterways.
“We need information on at least 2,000 carp aggregation events to complete our picture” Dr Durr said.
“Without carp aggregation knowledge we may not be able to accurately predict how the carp virus would work in Australia.”
CARPMAP can be accessed at this PS News link.
