Video - KDFWR - Asian Carp in KY and Barkley Lakes - impacts to crappie and bass

This is a great video with a lot of information about Asian Carp and a lot of data collected over the years gauging the impacts of Asian Carp in Kentucky and Barkley Lakes. This presentation was made a few weeks ago at the West KY Boat and Outdoor Show in Murray KY by Adam Martin, Fisheries Biologist and primary contact for the KDFWR Western Fishery District. I encourage anyone who fishes these lakes to watch and become familiar with the issues, and help spread the word. There is a lot of misinformation and rumors out there that this video addresses and helps clear up.

Description from YouTube for the video:
Asian Carp began appearing in Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley in 2004, but public awareness skyrocketed in 2017 when anglers began noticing skinny fish in Kentucky Lake. In this public presentation, Adam Martin, western district fisheries biologist for Kentucky Fish & Wildlife, discusses the impacts of Asian carp and offers a brief introduction into the incredibly complex interactions between plankton, fish, and related environmental conditions. There are reasons to be hopeful about the future of the fisheries in these lakes, but we have a lot of work left to do in the war on carp.


https://youtu.be/kZoo08Ztrjo

Many of us on here were there. Adam did a good job in presenting this.

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Originally Posted by kylakelover

Many of us on here were there. Adam did a good job in presenting this.

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I couldn't make it to that particular presentation, so I begged KDFWR to record it and share it, and they did! Hopefully this video sheds some light on the subject for many like myself who couldn't make it, as well as those who haven't heard a lot of this info before.

Very glad we've got Adam working for us at KDFWR!

Very informative... thanks for sharing

Thanks for the link. I viewed the whole thing and learned, confirmed a few things:
(The Crappie, Bluegill, Shad and Asian Carp eat the Plankton in the lakes) +
1.In the earlier part of the presentation, got tired of the comments, 'effects are complicated, we are trying to understand the impact' concerning the Asian Carp.
2. Bass catch creel survey, 0K, < 1 bass/hour fishing, I guess this is good.
3. Recent Crappie creel survey for KY lake, 'Incredible'. I guess this looks good for the crappie guides this year, Limits every day.
4. Fishing rate on the lake, hours per fisherman on the lake is down due to the supposed Asian Carp problems.
5. Dam Barrier at Barkley, but not currently planned for KY lake dam. I guess no Asian Carp come thru the KY Dam lock.
6. There was an Asian Carp spawn in 2015.
7. 'We have no idea of how many pounds of Asian Carp need to be removed at this time to reduce the numbers'
8. Asian Carp DO spawn in the lake, but at an estimated rate of <1% of 2 million eggs produced. (at 0.5%, the spawn rate would be 1000 per fish),this is not good
even at the 0.5% rate or whatever they will actually measure.
9. Our Fish and Wildlife do not collect data on Bass fishing tournaments. So, they have no idea if they have seen recent declines.
10. Our KY fish and Wildlife have determined that stocking of Crappie or Bass in the lakes is ineffective.

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Originally Posted by perchjerker108

5. Dam Barrier at Barkley, but not currently planned for KY lake dam. I guess no Asian Carp come thru the KY Dam lock.

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This topic was covered in another seminar and has lots of published data about it available at the KDFWR website page dedicated to Asian Carp. The dam barrier is in a 3 year trial test to prove it's effectiveness in a partnership with the USFWS, Corps of Engineers, and other agencies. It is unclear at this point whether it is an effective method below such a large structure, near a high traffic area for barges, in an area subjected to large water elevation swings, and worthy of the expense and maintenance - the 3 year test will determine this. If the test proves successful, then more barriers will be installed all across the country in areas where they would be effective, including KY Dam. As of right now, KDFWR can't just go blowing money and installing these BAFF systems everywhere without solid data proving their effectiveness in areas similar in nature.

I would encourage you and everyone interested to visit the KDFWR carp page, as well as the link to the BAFF system information:

Kentucky Department of Fish & Wildlife
Asian Carp Information

https://kentucky.gov/Pages/Activity-...dlife&prId=256

Fish Guidance Systems Ltd

http://www.fish-guide.com/pdf/BAFF%2...eek,%20USA.pdf

Thanks for watching, I know it was very long.
Since I’m on here, I’ll offer a little clarification

1. Correct. It’s complicated. Along with those fish you mentioned, lots of other species and aquatic invertebrates (mussels,bugs, etc) all consume plankton. Each with their own timing and preferences for certain sizes and types of plankton.
2. Correct. This number is based on all anglers who said they were targeting bass. A good angler will obviously beat this average.
3. Mostly correct. The most recent data on ky lake is from 2017. Many of those fish will be gone from the system due to natural and fishing mortality. Crappie are short lived. However, recent reports from Barkley have been good and the 2018 spawn looked decent. 2019 has all the hallmarks of a good spawn, but it’s all about the weather in April/May. I doubt the weathermen have even decided about tomorrow.
4. Mostly correct. The long term trend has not really changed. We observed a steady decline after the year 2000. Carp aren’t helping though
5. Kind of. A barrier isn’t currently planned at ky dam because there aren’t any currently planned anywhere. We don’t know if it works yet. KDFWR has obviously noted that the lakes are connected. If it works, KY dam will likely be next. The canal is also a possibility if AC find suitable spawning conditions in the upper TN river but not the Cumberland, or vice versa. The more disconnected the populations are nationwide, the likelier it is that we can create carp free zones.
6. Correct. There was a spawn in 2015, but not necessarily in the lakes. The evidence supports the idea that they spawned in the lakes, but does not prove it. I personally think a lake spawn occurred, but I try to deal in facts rather than assumptions.
7. Correct. We have an ongoing study to determine total population size in the lakes. The Illinois River is the only system I’m aware of that has an estimate of population size and it makes a lot of assumptions. We do know we want to remove as many as we can and our current harvest goals are higher than ever.
8. Not quite correct. We do not know for certain if they have spawned in the lakes. We do not know the survival rate of offspring. No one does. During good conditions it could be quite high. We know they try to spawn in the lakes every year, but no offspring are observed. Presumably in poor conditions survival is zero percent.
9. We do collect data, but it is not required for small tournaments so a lot of the data isn’t given to is. I think last year I got data on about 30 tournaments. (Hardly an exhaustive list of our tournaments) We are looking at ways to address this. We do monitor tournament anglers through the creel survey, so their catch rates are included in the estimates and major tournaments are required to report. I would love to have a report of every fish ever caught in the lakes (deer managers have it so easy), but I also don’t want the reporting process to be too much of a burden on anglers.
10. Correct. It wouldn’t make a dent. We are trying to improve spawning habitat, but results remain to be seen and we will still need the right environmental conditions.

Please let me know if you have other questions. I posted it online to keep people informed but I’m sure I missed a few topics.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by perchjerker108

Thanks for the link. I viewed the whole thing and learned, confirmed a few things:
(The Crappie, Bluegill, Shad and Asian Carp eat the Plankton in the lakes) +
1.In the earlier part of the presentation, got tired of the comments, 'effects are complicated, we are trying to understand the impact' concerning the Asian Carp.
2. Bass catch creel survey, 0K, < 1 bass/hour fishing, I guess this is good.
3. Recent Crappie creel survey for KY lake, 'Incredible'. I guess this looks good for the crappie guides this year, Limits every day.
4. Fishing rate on the lake, hours per fisherman on the lake is down due to the supposed Asian Carp problems.
5. Dam Barrier at Barkley, but not currently planned for KY lake dam. I guess no Asian Carp come thru the KY Dam lock.
6. There was an Asian Carp spawn in 2015.
7. 'We have no idea of how many pounds of Asian Carp need to be removed at this time to reduce the numbers'
8. Asian Carp DO spawn in the lake, but at an estimated rate of <1% of 2 million eggs produced. (at 0.5%, the spawn rate would be 1000 per fish),this is not good
even at the 0.5% rate or whatever they will actually measure.
9. Our Fish and Wildlife do not collect data on Bass fishing tournaments. So, they have no idea if they have seen recent declines.
10. Our KY fish and Wildlife have determined that stocking of Crappie or Bass in the lakes is ineffective.

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Amartinbio, Many thanks for the clarification on some of the points I gleaned from one of the most impressive presentations I've seen on the Asian Carp problem. Yep, I thought I heard that the spawn rate was <1%, not 0%. So this is good of they never spawn. The barriers(if affective) and commercial fishing should eventually take care of these.

Thanks Adam for the presentation and for getting the video out there. Hopefully people take the time to watch it and gain a little more understanding of what is going on. Nobody can predict the future but amazing to me how quick people have been to write off our lakes as dead considering how great the fishing was in 2015-2017.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

Maybe people writing the lakes off for a while is a good thing. The way we get slammed with bass tournaments at Paris Landing every weekend we could use a little break.