Public Meeting for Lake Chicot Silver Carp Mngt. Plan

I know that many people fish Lake Chicot for crappie and are interested in what is happening on that lake. So, I'm taking this opportunity to let everyone on the forum know about a public meeting that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will be having about the Silver Carp Management Plan for Lake Chicot. One of the options in the plan is a silver carp kill. The meeting will be on September 24 at 7:00 pm at the Chicot County Courthouse. All interested parties are encouraged to attend.

Diana Andrews
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
771 Jordan Drive
Monticello, AR 71655
1-877-367-3559

I'm glad to hear they may be getting something started to fight these carp.

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Originally Posted by DAndrews

I know that many people fish Lake Chicot for crappie and are interested in what is happening on that lake. So, I'm taking this opportunity to let everyone on the forum know about a public meeting that the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission will be having about the Silver Carp Management Plan for Lake Chicot. One of the options in the plan is a silver carp kill. The meeting will be on September 24 at 7:00 pm at the Chicot County Courthouse. All interested parties are encouraged to attend.

Diana Andrews
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
771 Jordan Drive
Monticello, AR 71655
1-877-367-3559

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How will they kill the silver carp without killing the other fish?

Silver carp are more susceptible to rotenone than most game fish so we can use a lighter dosage. However, some game fish will be killed. We are not talking about doing an entire lake kill, just 9 acres right below Connerly Bayou Dam. We want to attract the silver carp into the area by letting in some water at the dam, then blocking-off the area with a net and then applying rotenone. We want to do a test run in October and then the real kill in November. However, all of this is dependent upon the public meeting and whether we get support to do this or not.

Diana Andrews

That's next Thursday evening. I'll plan to be there and thanks for the notice. I don't see anything posted in the local paper.

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Originally Posted by DAndrews

However, all of this is dependent upon the public meeting and whether we get support to do this or not.

Diana Andrews

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Since when has the AGFC ever depended on public input??? Not in my lifetime. They decide what they are going to do and skew the data to show support for their agenda. That said, kill 'em all.

Well it looks it is going to happen in your lifetime!! Depending on what the public decides at this public meeting will determine if we (AGFC) will perform this fish kill. There actually been stuff we have down in this area (fisheries wise) that has been based on public input and opinions.

As for getting the info out, Diana has contacted all the newspapers and radio stations in the SE Arkansas and Mississippi area and requested to get the this information out. She also contacted the local banks to put it on their digital signs. We are also hoping you guys on here will help to get the word out, also.

We hope to get as many people there as we can to help get the information out and gather input.

Jeremy

Hard to disagree with getting rud of them. To save a little time I would venture a guess that most oppose underage drinking, necrophilia, armed robbery and kiddie porn. Now why not do a real survey on spinning wing decoys, horsepower restrictions on wmas and setting the dates for duck season with other than Stuttgart in mind. Survey as to how many want to keep throwing money at woody woodpecker. Then how about doing some research on an updating of navigble streams. Don't pick a topic that you know everyone will support and try to make it appear that you care what we think.

How big is Chicot? 9 Acres? Man, I'd like to see how yall herd a significant number of carp into 9 acres. Just build another fishing pier and promote carp fishing. I'm afraid the opportunity to control this problem with Rotenone is long past----this is just for public consumption.

I'm glad the AGFC is trying to address this problem in Chicot. My wife won't fish there anymore because the carp are so bad. You have my support and good luck.

I think I agree with Rockmike, I hope something can be done but I think they are here to stay. Probably see dead crappie floating with the carp. At least we didn't have as many jump in the boat with us as we did last year.

Well I sure hope it will work. They have made it up the White River almost to Batesville.:mad:

Looks like large mesh gill nets would get alot of the large Carp. That is if Commercial fishing is allowed.:confused:

I hope there's some magic bullet. They've gone up Black River at least as far as Elgin.

Opening the lake to commercial fishing is one of the options that will be discussed at the meeting. I know that 9 acres seems like a small area to kill compared to the size of the lake, but we hope to attract a lot of the carp into the kill area with a controled water release from Connerly dam. They are attracted to flowing water and have moved into the area in the past when water was released. All of these options will be discussed in detail at the meeting. I hope that a lot of you can attend.

Diana

Is there a market for these fish? Can you eat them like you do catfish and buffalo?

While I've not been hit by those fish in AR, I have been hit twice in the last few weeks in active oxbows of the Miss. R. down here in LA. I was hit once in the leg and once in the right shoulder while motoring slowly. I never saw the shoulder shot, as it came from my back, right. Those 2 fish landed in the boat, and I did my part toward their control.

I wish the AGFC success in its initial efforts at some level of control. Ms. Andrews wrote plainly that the first effort would be a "test" effort. She well knows that Lake Chicot is larger than 9 acres. I do hope that some control can be accomplished, in this trial run as well as some future larger scaled one, in order to preserve the good fishing that you folks enjoy up that way. Ray

The AGFC did something similar on Dierks Lake a couple of years ago but I do not know what the outcome was as I do not frequent that lake much.

I think they put corn out in some of the bays to attract them rough fish, then rotenoned just those areas.

My Bad :eek: there Diana. I opened the local paper I got yesterday and there was a meeting notice on the front page. And thanks for asking for the public input. This is a serious problem for the fisherman out there. See ya there.

I don't fish Chicot. But, I do appreciate the post's Diana has made to keep us informed. A fine effort in my mind.
DP

thanks for your efforts and letting us know about the meeting

All,

I have been a member of the board for a number of years but do not post much. I grew up on the Mississippi River and have fished many of the river lakes for 50+ years. I purchased a lot on Lake Chicot a few years ago with the intent of building my retirement home. I was devastated to learn that the Asian carp had entered the lake. After encountering these problem species on the river for a number of years I knew it would only be a matter of time before it ruined the game species fishery. I have done much research in this problem and what I have concluded is that there is no way to eliminate this species once it has established itself in a body of water. Please check out the following links that will answer some of the questions poised on this thread and hopefully give everyone a better understanding of what we face in trying to eliminate this problem.

Commercial opportunity:
Asian carp a cash crop :: Prairie State Outdoors
Asian Carp: Can't Beat Them? Eat Them : NPR
ILLINOIZE: Sen. Jacobs rides to the rescue on Asian Carp eradication

As a food source:
http://www.iisgcp.org/newsroom/helm/...asian_carp.pdf

Eradication:
Genetically Engineered Organisms, USGS Genetics and Genomics Research

I could not find the link but there is a researcher in Australia who is doing research to develop a gene that would be implanted into this species resulting in the offspring produced all would be male. As a result this species would eventually breed itself out of existence. He estimates that this would take 20+ years once implemented.

I know the barn door is open on Chicot but does anyone know how they got in. This needs to be addressed in order to get a handle on this problem.

Although I will not be able to attend the meeting since I live out of state I applaud the effort and wish everyone the best in finding an answer to this problem.

Thanks OXBOW for the very informative post.

One female can deposit 2.2 million eggs, they won't bite a hook, they compete for the same forage as crappie at least when crappie need it most for growth while small. Sounds like a worst case senario for a fishery to me.

The GFC has learned long ago that they can not please everyone,just look back and see what they have done in restoration of turkey, deer elk, trout, stripers and the fisheries in general. I was grown and married before I saw my first wild deer. I lived in the country until I was 16. My father killed a number of deer on the farm I grew up on in his later years. Like I said, they can't please everyone, but I think they have done a remarkable job. They possibly may have made a few incorrect decisions in the past. I can not see anyone that would object to this experimental silver carp kill, as one poster said "kill em all"

I agree with everyone that any measure to try and rid the lake of this nuisance species is welcomed. Please keep those of us who are not able to attend the meeting informed on what action will be taken upon.

I know they need to give the perception of addressing this problem, but I'm afraid this is like p****ng in the ocean to float your boat.

Looks like ole Gomer may have gotten a ticket from an enforcement officer for over the limit of ducks. He seems to have an attitude problem. eck eck.

Nope. I have just watched the AGFC diddle with about everything for the last 50 years. since we passed the sales tax they care more about Wal-mart than the sportsman. they are above the common man and most of their decisions are based on $$$ and politics. F'rinstance

1. Steve Wilson's dwi handling. Just gave him a paid driver
2. Woody Woodpecker fiasco
3. Too gutless to deal with some wmas allowing decoys to be left out
and blinds to be built on public lands
4. state possum cops going over to TN and hunting turkeys illegally
and coming back to a hand slap
5. They will not do anything to try to determeine the navigability of streams and rivers. They build a ramp on Village Creek and when a weasel posts it they do nothing to correct said problem. The local division has no idea as to the laws and care less.


Just a few

Yep! I went to the meeting. Nothing was really decided based on how we voted. (Other than no bow fishing or commercial fishing outside of the existing season.) AGFC stated they would not base decisions on how we voted there but would consider our comments and votes. This problem is here to stay it seems. There is no simple way to eliminate the carp from Lake Chicot. :mad:

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Originally Posted by luvin.fishin

AGFC stated they would not base decisions on how we voted there but would consider our comments and votes.

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Translation: Thanks for coming out and making it appear that we are open to public opinion. looks good on the report. In the meanwhile we will continue to do whay we want.(As long as the monied want it too.)