An upcoming fish removal project by the Missouri Department of Conservation on the Grand River will seek answers about ways to manage invasive carp populations in the state’s big rivers and their feeder streams. From Sept. 12-16, MDC will close the Brunswick Access and the lower eight miles of the river before it flows into the Missouri River for the fish removal project. The project is being conducted in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Crews will be netting and removing the carp from the river, and a commercial fishing operation will then process the fish into various products such as food for human consumption, as a protein additive for animal feeds, and prepared fish bait used by anglers.
The project’s goals are twofold. One goal is to test methods for removing large numbers of carp from a river to see if it is commercially feasible for future similar operations in other rivers. But also, the removal can boost the available food and habitat for native fish in the Grand and Missouri rivers such as catfish, paddlefish, sturgeon, buffalo and the many smaller fish species that are part of the ecosystem. The invasive carp tend to spawn in the slower feeder streams, and both young and mature carp congregate in the nutrient-rich water of deep pools. Netting in those areas has the potential to remove large numbers of carp.
Non-native invasive carp reproduce prolifically and grow quickly to sizes too big for native predator fish to consume. They filter food and nutrients from the water that are needed by the many fish species native the rivers, including those popular with anglers. One invader, silver carp, grow to large sizes and leap from the water when startled. They have seriously injured boaters. The removal will target silver, bighead, grass, and black carp. Any other species captured will be weighed, measured, and released as part of research and monitoring of the river’s fishery.
MDC will place nets in the Grand River at both ends of the fish removal section. That will keep carp from escaping the target area. MDC has fish population sampling data from prior years and populations will be sampled after the carp removal. Biologists will be able to measure how sport fish populations respond and how quickly invasive carp re-populate the stream section.
The removal will occur Oct. 17-22 if a weather event prompts postponement in September. During the operation, the Grand River above the lower eight miles can still be accessed by boaters via the Bosworth Access. The Missouri River will still be accessible by boaters via MDC’s Miami, Waverly, Dalton, and Glasgow fishing accesses. Bank fishing will still be allowed in the lower eight miles during the operation.
