The Missouri Department of Conservation reports that 38,700 pounds of invasive carp were removed from the Grand River in September during their focused removal project. MDC, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks used nets and electrofishing from Sept. 11-14 and Sept. 25-28 on portions of the Grand River near Brunswick and Bosworth. The project improved available river habitats for native fish and provided information on how commercial operations might be used in the future to reduce invasive carp. A commercial fishing business will market the fish caught during this operation for various forms of fishing bait.
Invasive carp reproduce and grow quickly, taking up resources that native fish need to survive. While removal efforts may not eliminate invasive carp from the rivers, they can reduce the number of invasive fish present, leading to improved conditions for native fish. This year, various methods of fishing were used, and most carp removed were silver carp with minimal amounts of bighead and grass carp mixed in. All native fish species that were caught were counted and released back into the river for data tracking purposes.
USFWS partners are continuing to conduct hydroacoustic surveys of the area for the next several weeks. In the next few months, staff will analyze the data to estimate the impact on the invasive carp population. This data will allow MDC science staff to track the effects in the area after the removal to determine whether the goal of removing 30-40% of the invasive carp was met during the project.
To learn more about invasive carp, visit this link on the Missouri Department of Conservation website.
