Synopsis of West KY Boat Show Asian Carp presentation January 13, 2018
• Five research projects in West KY
o Silver Carp Telemetry
 This study improves the understanding of Silver carp movement and habitat use in large reservoirs
• Data collected will help steer removal efforts and estimate mortality rates
 To date KDFWR has tagged 135 fish with internal acoustic transmitters
 Continuing to expand the network of receivers in the lakes used to monitor fish tagged in this study
 KDFWR conducts weekly manual tracking studies, to refine locations of individual fish tagged
 KDFWR conducting monthly 24-hour tracking studies on individual fish
• This yields precise habitat-use and movements over a 24-hour period
 This project is collaborative between many universities and state and federal agencies
o Tail-Water Sport Fish Assessment
 Consists of a creel survey conducted every other year and a fish community survey conducted annually across seasons
• Began in 2016
 Creel Survey
• 3,730 Angler interviews, 240 Angler attitude surveys
• 95,643 angler hours in Kentucky tail-waters
• 75,048 angler hours in Barkley tail-waters
• Catfish were the most targeted species in both tail-waters
• Bow-fishing recorded as a new method of fishing that was not used in prior creel surveys
• Asian carp captures have increased from ~10 years ago when the last creel survey was conducted
• Anglers cited Asian Carp as a top reason for dissatisfaction
o Silver Carp Demographics
 This study is used to establish several metrics for the Asian carp populations in Barkley (2017) & Kentucky (2016) reservoirs, thus allowing KDFWR to monitor changes in the population from harvest
• Kentucky lake 2016, Barkley was sampled in 2017 and the data is still being analyzed
• Data collected yields age structure, growth/mortality rates, as well as condition of the population
• Began as joint study with Murray State University in 2016
• Mean length for fish in Kentucky lake ~35 inches
o Kentucky lake fish are larger than fish from the Illinois, Middle Mississippi and Wabash rivers
• Silver carp in Kentucky Lake grow faster and reach the maximum length more quickly than in systems such as the Illinois and Middle Mississippi rivers
• Kentucky Lake Annual Silver carp mortality estimated to be 53%, compared to 63% on the Illinois and Middle Mississippi rivers
o The Illinois and Middle Mississippi have a more effective commercial fishery
o Asian Carp Harvest Program
 Program began in 2013
• Allows Commercial fishing access to Barkley and Kentucky reservoirs year round
o $0.05 per pound subsidy available for Asian Carp harvested in this program
• Fishermen on this program are required to submit daily and monthly harvest logs
o Harvest logs are used to monitor removal efforts and monitor by catch
• KDFWR completes ~30 ride-a-longs per year with Commercial anglers to collect additional data
o Sportfish account for 6% of bycatch and have a survival rate of 93%
• Commercial harvest totals have been increasing since the program was established 2.5 million pounds harvested statewide in 2016, 1.5 million pounds in Lake Barkley alone
o Fish processors in the state could handle up to 10 million pounds per year
• KDFWR is continuing to facilitate the growth of the industry, which is the best resource available at this time to reduce the population of Asian Carp
o Achieving this through increasing public awareness, sharing research findings and developing a Public-Private-Partnership
o Experimental Gear Testing
 This project is investigating new fishing methods to increase the removal of Asian Carp from Kentucky waters
 Partnering with public and private entities
• Working with Two Rivers Fisheries when they want to try new netting systems
• Communicating with Whooshh Innovations about the potential of a removal system in the Barkley and Kentucky tail-waters
• Collaborating with the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to test new gears on Barkley and Kentucky reservoirs
o Paupier netting system
 Electrified butterfly trawl
 Has been effective at removing Silver carp less than 25 inches from the reservoirs
o Merwin & Iruka nets
 Very large net systems
o Black Carp
 KDFWR collected and verified a Black carp in Barkley lake in November of 2017
 Not documented upstream of Brookport, Illinois in the Ohio river drainage prior to this
 The Black carp looks similar to a Grass carp
• Black carp have an overall dark coloration
• The head is more cone shaped than a Grass carp
 Black carp feed on Snails and Mussels
o Relative Abundance of Asian Carp Study in Barkley and Kentucky Lakes
 This study will be initiated in 2018
 The study will establish an estimate of the population size of Asian carp in the lakes
• This data will be valuable as the Commercial fishery grows, KDFWR will be able to monitor changes as a result of increased effort
o Testing of Sound Barriers
 This study would be a field trail to determine the effectiveness of sound to limit the movement of Asian carp through lock structures
 KDFWR is collaborating with U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and Army Corps of Engineers
 Considering Barkley lock as an ideal testing location
• Target installation of 2019

Apologies for the somewhat confusing formatting. I had one of our Asian carp biologists, Josh Tompkins, put this together this morning. Post any carp questions you might have below and I will try to answer them.