Update from KYFW on the carp dieoff

UPDATE on ASIAN CARP DIEOFFS in Kentucky & Barkley Lakes: From a Facebook post:

It appears that young Asian Carp are succumbing to stressors brought on by insufficient fat storage to get the fish through the winter and spring months. Young but large carp are likely most vulnerable to starvation after a warm winter because the fishes’ metabolism was elevated above that of a normal, colder winter. Because of malnutrition, the fish eventually succumb to secondary stressors such as bacterial infections, which their immune systems would normally fight off. Thanks to our Fisheries biologists and partner the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for their diligent investigation.

Interesting. Thank you for the information and update.

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They have been surviving warm winters for 20 to 30 years in the rivers from here to mississippi.
That's not an acceptable response in my opinion. Thoughts......

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Originally Posted by bandchaser

They have been surviving warm winters for 20 to 30 years in the rivers from here to mississippi.
That's not an acceptable response in my opinion. Thoughts......

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Well I wondered. The first thing that came to me was we had one of the mildest winters in a while. So .... why would this one particular age of one particular species succumb to a bacterial or viral infection. Sounds like the last time when they said the water at the dam was getting too oxygenated and that caused the dieoff then.

Things that make me go "Hmmmmm???"

I was always under the impression that warm winters actually did the opposite. Fish grow larger and eat better, not become malnutritioned from a warm winter. That reasoning doesn't pass the smell test...

I hope they all die! It's irritating to fish for the panfish right now when they run into the sides of your boat. Heck, it's frustrating when they swim around my boat period.

I'm not buying a warm winter did this. Actually, I heard a reasonable explanation today from a bass guy. He said the record mustard grass crop is the guilty party. He stated that he has taken pictures of them swimming with the yellow flowers draped around their mouths/heads. He thinks the mustard grass is probably their demise.

If the mustard grass is the cause they need to lower the lakes on the Tennessee river and plant mustard grass on every sand bar and flat from one end to the other and kill all of em! Then if that works they need to do it on every river system these things have infested!

Is it the "great asian carp cover-up"?
I really don't care, want them gone, from our lakes at least.

What Paul Rister had said the other day made sense, super saturation of gases, or similar to the bends in diving.
Wonder if the mustard grass puts off a gas that when inhaled by these suckers, it sticks to their gills and eventually rendering a positive result, death......
I'm all for getting rid of them. But I am completely against lying to the public, covering up with fancy science-based terms, when the truth be told they don't have any idea what has caused it.

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Quote:

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Originally Posted by bandchaser

What Paul Rister had said the other day made sense, super saturation of gases, or similar to the bends in diving.
Wonder if the mustard grass puts off a gas that when inhaled by these suckers, it sticks to their gills and eventually rendering a positive result, death......
I'm all for getting rid of them. But I am completely against lying to the public, covering up with fancy science-based terms, when the truth be told they don't have any idea what has caused it.

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Hello everyone, browsing through the forum and thought I would jump in here and try to ease a few concerns. The department used some fancy science words to explain the recent carp die off, so I want to break it down a little bit for anyone who is interested.

The earlier post about super saturation of gases was from the die off in the tailwaters in 2014 and does not apply to the recent die off in the lakes.

The results of the testing indicated that the silver carp were malnourished and succumbed to everyday normal bacterial infections. The bacteria discovered are virtually always in the lake, but in this case the carp simply lacked the energy to fight off the infections. This was definitely not a bacteria or virus that the department introduced. If a species specific virus is ever discovered, it certainly wont be tested in kentucky lake without a ton of testing in small ponds and lakes which would be national news.

So why did the silver carp have low fat reserves?
lets look at plankton, the diet of silver carp. Plankton is made up of phytoplankton=plants and zooplankton=animals. The amount of plankton varies seasonally. Each species of plankton has its own annual schedule just like fish. These schedules are influenced by water levels, water temps, and also the amount of daylight. (less daylight in winter months). When we have really warm winters like this, it screws up the food chain by bringing these schedules out of alignment. The earlier comment about fish metabolism being lower in winter was true. Fish metabolism is mainly controlled by water temps. Warmer water=higher metabolism. A warm winter isnt any issue for adult largemouth bass (warm winters would help them grow faster) because its not like the baitfish disappear in winter. The plankton however, does. This winter was very mild which meant that silver carp metabolism was higher and they simply ran out of fat reserves.

Why only silver carp? There was a large spawn of silver carp in 2015 which youve been seeing lining the banks (17-20 inch silvers). Each fish species has its own preference for certain plankton sizes. When you have too many fish of the same size at the same time, competition is a huge factor in growth and survival. These small silver carp were hit hardest because of their small body size (less fat storage in general) and because there were so many of them schooling together in the same areas. This explains why we didnt see hardly any adult silver carp, they have larger fat reserves. For those that think the department introduced some toxin, do you really think they introduced a toxin that could only affect smaller ones?
If there was a cover up, what exactly would be the purpose? I am not aware of any negative outcomes of this die off other than the smell. If the department did "experiment" and kill silver carp, what would be the point of covering that up?

Welcome to the forum and thanks for your explanation. Lots of conspiracy theorists here--myself included. Whomever or whatever is killing the silvers, thanks and keep up the good work.

I'm going out on a limb here and thinking you may know Marshall County's next CO (game warden). I hope he will take an active part in the discussions here. Lots of eyes and ears on the lake here on this forum. You and he are among friends but will get honest questions and opinions from those here.

We put on a dang good party (KY Forum Shindig) each fall. Please consider this an invitation to attend.

I do indeed know the next game warden although maybe not in the way you think. I am paul rister's assistant bio so I work primarily with sportfish.

I definitely appreciate any and all comments on this forum and will try to check it occasionally. Often times anglers pick up on trends before us biologists are aware of them. Its nice to have an army of eyes and ears out there!

Welcome aboard.
Thanks for the follow up. Whatever we can do to eradicate the carp, I am sure you guys will have 100 % support from everyone here. I just wish our government would hold the companies that brought these invasive species here accountable for their actions and the consequences that have derived from their actions. This is just the same as the deep blue horizon incident with BP, their actions and decisions played out negatively to the ecosystem and environment. Same goes for the Asian carp.

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