Asian Carp

[ricky]

http://www.lrc.ky.gov/lrcpubs/IB242.pdf

Issues Confronting The 2014 Kentucky General Assembly


Should the General Assembly authorize subsidies for commercial anglers to increase the
catch of Asian carp?
Background
Asian carp, which include bighead, silver, grass, and black species, are an invasive, nonnative
type of fish that is displacing native fish and ruining several industries dependent on the water’s
natural ecosystem. In Kentucky, native fish such as paddlefish, walleye, crappie, bass, bluegill,
and trout are already being affected. Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake are infested with Asian
carp, and the recreational boating, sport-fishing, and commercial fishing industries are at risk.
Some estimate the size of the recreational fishing industry at $1 billion, and the commercial
fishing industry, while smaller in economic size, is significant.1

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a multistate effort to control Asian carp, received nearly
$200 million in federal funding.2
However, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife
Resources received none of that federal funding, and the department is prohibited from using any
Kentucky Sport Game and Fish funds.
The department took several steps to control the supply of
Asian carp in Kentucky waters, including promulgating administrative regulations that prohibit
the stocking of Asian carp. There are also controls over the transport and disposal of baitfish
since carp can look like many species of baitfish. The department issued “no restriction” on the
taking of Asian carp by sport-fishermen and relaxed regulations on commercial fishing
operations to encourage commercial fishermen to catch as many carp as possible. The
department held fishing events, such as Carp Madness, and offered prize money to the
commercial fishing team that brought in the most Asian carp. While there was good participation
by commercial fishermen, intermittent fishing events cannot effectively mitigate an infestation
by an invasive fish species like Asian carp.
Discussion
There are few downstream markets for Asian carp. Fish meal and whole fish sales to Asia are the
two largest, but they offer insufficient returns. Asian carp are labor intensive to catch and do not
fetch as much at the processing plant as other fish. Commercial fishermen require specialized
gear, nets, and new methods. At the processor, fish meal returns roughly 10 cents per pound, and
the whole fish sells at 12 cents to 14 cents per pound. After the processor factors in costs of
operation, the share of the return to the commercial fisherman is significantly lower, only cents
per pound.3
Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife argues that the existing economic
incentives are not enough to bring processors into the state and to address the low returns to
commercial anglers. The Economic Development Cabinet provided $1 million in economic
incentives to a fish processing plant, Two Rivers Fisheries, to open in Wycliffe. It is hoped that
by opening the new plant and working on expanding local markets, the return to commercial
anglers will improve.
The US Fish and Wildlife Service established the Asian Carp Working Group to address the
growing national problem of these invasive species. The group prepared a Nuisance Species
Management Plan addressing several options to offset the lack of direct finance for species
control. Many of these options now are being discussed by state agencies as the Asian carp
problem has reached a crisis point. One option is to offer economic incentives such as tax credits
or subsidies. Tax credits and subsidies have been touted as easiest to administer of all the
options, but opinions differ on who should get the subsidy—the angler or the processor. If
offered directly to anglers, a tax credit or subsidy can offset the angler’s cost of purchasing
specialized gear and nets or be calculated directly on the pounds of carp sold to the processor.
Detractors fear this incentive will encourage anglers to illegally stock Asian carp in Kentucky
waters. If offered to fish processing companies for their purchase of Asian carp, the processor
could increase the price paid to the commercial fishermen for their catch. Placing the credit or
subsidy on the processor would encourage fish processors to open in the state.

Another option being discussed is a bounty on Asian carp. Detractors argue that a bounty is hard
to administer and also encourages anglers to illegally stock the fish. One popular option is to
contract directly with commercial fishermen to fish areas where the waters are infested with
carp, but this option does little to address how to pay for those contracts. Kentucky has modified
the contract fishing option by using money donated by outdoor organizations to offer prize
money for the largest catch of carp taken from infested waters. One-time events, like Carp
Madness, have been successful in reducing the numbers at Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley, but
are not a long-term solution to the Asian carp problem.

[M R Dux]

All that needs to happen is a family member of some politician get hit in the face by a silver carp jumping 4 feet out of the water and there will be plenty of $$ available. Much like the imaginary aquatic weed control efforts that supposedly didn't take place a few years ago when the weeds started getting around the boat docks of certain folks on the west side of KY Lake. Those weeds disappeared in just a few months but that TVA air boat with the spray booms wasn't spraying weeds.COUGH! COUGH!!

I am the last person who wants to see government intervention in any issue but we are going to lose our fishery if the situation isn't addressed quickly on some level.

[Greenwing]

I don't know what the answer is, but I like that there is some serious discussion about the problem. I like the bounty, make it worth the commercial fisherman to target them even if it means doing nothing but throwing them in dumpster. About 3 weeks ago on Barkley while viewing side imaging ran across a school of carp that was 140 feet wide by at least 300 feet long in one bay, they were jumping everywhere behind the boat.

[Wiskers]

I don't know what the answer is, but I like that there is some serious discussion about the problem. I like the bounty, make it worth the commercial fisherman to target them even if it means doing nothing but throwing them in dumpster. About 3 weeks ago on Barkley while viewing side imaging ran across a school of carp that was 140 feet wide by at least 300 feet long in one bay, they were jumping everywhere behind the boat.

You should see what happens when you run a 4300 hp towboat and 15 barges through'um like I do! Looks like its raining fish!

[Greenwing]

You should see what happens when you run a 4300 hp towboat and 15 barges through'um like I do! Looks like its raining fish!

I bet it does. my nephew runs the Illinois River he talks about how crazy that gets.

[Wiskers]

I bet it does. my nephew runs the Illinois River he talks about how crazy that gets.

I've seen'um go plum through the windows of the boat!

[rnvinc]

I've seen'um go plum through the windows of the boat!

Can you get some video for us...??

Rickie

[Wiskers]

Can you get some video for us...??

Rickie

Next time I get in'um I'll try, but I'm usually try'n to watch where I'm go'n.

[Bronson]

The best time to have handled this problem was years ago when we were first aware of them reproducing in our lakes. Now it is 100 times worse and probably to the point of all we can hope for is it can be managed so we don't lose our fishery. When that happens, Kentucky Dept. of fish and wildlife are going to lose a tremendous amount of funding.

It's way past time of bringing in the best in the business to come up with a plan and you'd better involve some politicians if any changes are going to be made. If not, one of the greatest fisheries in the country will not be worth much to anyone. We've seen these scares in the past and they didn't develop but it looks like this one is for real.

[crossarm]

2 rivers fisheries is a start to a solution. They have a website you can look at.