Carp Harvest Fund Donations /Help eliminate Asian Carp

As many of you know, we have a SERIOUS problem in the Tennessee, Cumberland and Mississippi River valleys with Asian carp, both Silver (the jumpers) and Bigheads. We are almost to the point of losing fisheries in KY and Barkley Lakes. Many rivers like the Wabash and Illinois are unfishable.

Finally the powers that be are starting to listen and have set up a fund called The Carp Harvest Fund. It is to raise money to go directly to commercial fishermen who are netting the carp. The market price has been so low they couldn't make money netting the Asian Carp. This fund will help them buy nets, fuel and directly subsidize the market price so they can profit from their labors. I have attended meeting for years about the carp but finally Fish and Wildlife agencies from several states as well as the federal government have started working together on this.

I know several commercial fishermen and even with this subsidy, they are not going to get rich catching Asian carp. This is back-breaking work but they will become the first, and only, line of defense against us losing our game fish.

Please consider donating. If I see this fund is not being used for its intended use, I will be the first to scream from the rooftops. Be sure to check the "Invasive Species" box.

Carp Harvest Fund

Maybe this needs to be a permanent Sticky . Give what you can, but it’s our only way to fight the problem right now. :ThumbsUp

That's what this post is for. Ed is going to put it up as a Sticky.

I just donated $100.00 to get this started.

Maybe I am misreading this point under the "Goals of the Fund" section, but it almost sounds like they maybe are hoping for and end game of the private donations of the fund to eventually replace the current government subsidy to commercial fisherman. I think anything donated should be over and above that assistance not in lieu of it.

"5. If needed or in lieu of state assistance, provide $0.05-$0.10 per-pound subsidy to commercial fishermen."

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Originally Posted by Slow Retrieve

Maybe I am misreading this point under the "Goals of the Fund" section, but it almost sounds like they maybe are hoping for and end game of the private donations of the fund to eventually replace the current government subsidy to commercial fisherman. I think anything donated should be over and above that assistance not in lieu of it.

"5. If needed or in lieu of state assistance, provide $0.05-$0.10 per-pound subsidy to commercial fishermen."

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no good answers for the commercial fishermen as they need 25 cents or more per pound to make a living and pay for expensive nets, gas, ice, and even labor. KY and your Corps has built a ice machine for them at KY Dam, but they still have to cover ground to get them to a commercial buyer. Here are some videos that are great to watch and educate you on some of the issues and problems of relying on commercial fishermen to help with elimination as right now, commercial fishing is the only way to slow and get rid of carp.
https://www.waroncarp.com/videos/

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Originally Posted by cevans

no good answers for the commercial fishermen as they need 25 cents or more per pound to make a living and pay for expensive nets, gas, ice, and even labor. KY and your Corps has built a ice machine for them at KY Dam, but they still have to cover ground to get them to a commercial buyer. Here are some videos that are great to watch and educate you on some of the issues and problems of relying on commercial fishermen to help with elimination as right now, commercial fishing is the only way to slow and get rid of carp.
https://www.waroncarp.com/videos/

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I think you misunderstood my point. I am all for supporting our commercial fisherman in this fight. I just would hate to see the fund used as a lateral move dollars in subsidies instead of actually increasing the monies paid to them. That part from the funds web site I quoted which mentioned "in lieu of state assistance" just raised some question in my mind about that.

Just finished watching Carp Wars tournament video. 100,000 lbs of carp caught in 2 days. Why can't all these brilliant politicians get with Hollywood, and start a reality/ tournament series? Seems like it would be a win for everybody. $20,000.00 in prize money is nothing for modern game shows these days. Rednecks, water , fish, and prize money? I'm in . With shows like Ax men , gold rush and others succeeding, I don't understand why this hasn't been tapped into .

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Originally Posted by Dutchman

Just finished watching Carp Wars tournament video. 100,000 lbs of carp caught in 2 days. Why can't all these brilliant politicians get with Hollywood, and start a reality/ tournament series? Seems like it would be a win for everybody. $20,000.00 in prize money is nothing for modern game shows these days. Rednecks, water , fish, and prize money? I'm in . With shows like Ax men , gold rush and others succeeding, I don't understand why this hasn't been tapped into .

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The Outdoor Channel had a reality series about commercial fisherman called Bottom Feeders. I think it ran for about two or three seasons but must have been canceled because I haven't seen in for a few years now.

That's correct . But it wasn't a tournament. How could commercial tournament Fishing be less attractive to cable tv than some of the stupid stuff that's on there?? I looks like they could make money, and serve a great purpose. They pull 50 tons of carp out in 2 days , that would have to help after a while .

The bad thing is we need 25 to 40 tons pulled out daily to show a dent in them now. They use special nets that aren't cheap. There is no real income from them like cats until the processing plants start paying more. As long as they can get them cheap/free and rake in the money they are fine with it. But, not much of a market for them here.
They want to do some tournaments, open it up, commercial, sports and non license. Have a pay out for biggest load per group, biggest fish for sportsman and non license. Get those lake/river runners involved that don't want them in their boats.
For those of use that are to far away from processing plants and only get a few, set up collection centers that will pay you so much per pound. I've seen a bunch snagged at Butla spillway and left on the bank, no telling how many more. Collection centers set up to pay you, freeze the fish and a weekly route to pick the up with collector making some money for his time would help.
Another idea, you don't need a license to fish or for having tackle in your boat as long as you only keep the carp. Guess the only thing needed would be nets and coolers.

They get the pay outs big enough in a tournament/reality show , I guarantee you the commercial fisherman will come out from everywhere, and after they get everything dialed in I would pity those wretched carp . We have fishermen with the skills , Hollywood has the money .

While some want everyone else to fund this , It has to come down to each of us doing our part now.. Those Asians primary food is the Plankton that tiny fish eat to grow.. Some lakes have already suffered badly enough there are no longer any Shad . I made a donation to the war on Carp fund.. I just wish that $5 from every fishing License from every state helped get these Invasive fish out of our water ways --- Do YOU want them in your rivers and lakes in your back yard

I seriously don't know why they don't just introduce that virus and kill them all.

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Originally Posted by FurFlyin

I seriously don't know why they don't just introduce that virus and kill them all.

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Simply because the virus WON'T "kill them all" .... and even if it did, all those dead carp would foul the water/air to such an extent that the smell would drive away the people, and the water would become devoid of oxygen (from the decaying fish) and likely affect the remaining fish negatively. The cleanup of the dead/dying carp would be a very expensive project, not to mention that the carcasses may only be good for disposal & not fit for even using them for fertilizer ... not to mention they'd no longer be usable for pet food, much less for human consumption. Remember ... we're not just talking about "millions" of carp, we're talking about millions of TONS of carp.

CrappiePappy, it's gonna take some bad to set this straight. I don't know if the virus would kill all of them fast enough that the mess would be horrible. I'm sure it would be bad enough, but somethings gotta be done. Relying on a government subsidy is nothing more than propping up a scarecrow.

Glad someone is finally doing something about it. They've destroyed Tunica Cutoff - what used to be one of the finest places to fish in N MS.

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Originally Posted by FurFlyin

CrappiePappy, it's gonna take some bad to set this straight. I don't know if the virus would kill all of them fast enough that the mess would be horrible. I'm sure it would be bad enough, but somethings gotta be done. Relying on a government subsidy is nothing more than propping up a scarecrow.

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FF ... from what I've read, the larvae are basically immune & the older (big) ones are not "all" susceptible to the virus ... it's the juvenile population that's the most susceptible. The virus can survive for about 7days in the water & takes a few days to infect the fish, then death occurs in 24-48hrs. Even in Australia, where they're studying the use of this virus, they're still concerned enough about the "pollution" effect of a mass die-off of carp that they're still studying ways to "clean up" the floating carcasses, so they don't foul their water supply. Another "side affect" of the dead carp, if not removed from the water before rotting begins, is that other bacteria can set in and make the fish potentially hazardous to handle by humans not wearing protective gear.

And the other potential "problem" with using the virus, is that it's pretty specific to the Common Carp & Koi .... so it may not even work on the Asian Carp & just kill the Common Carp in our waters (which has already happened in several states). And I say that because of reading this (copied from a 2011 article in the Natl. Center for Biotech Info) :

Host specificity:

Although the disease is highly contagious, it appears restricted to Cyprinus carpio (koi and common carp) populations. In experimental challenges, tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), silver perch (Bidyanus bidyanus), silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), goldfish (Carassius auratus) and grass carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) were found to be fully resistant to CyHV3 infection, even after long cohabitation with diseased carp at the permissive temperature.

There are several strains of virus which are species specific. It occurs naturally, usually when per acre populations are hi

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Originally Posted by Dutchman

Just finished watching Carp Wars tournament video. 100,000 lbs of carp caught in 2 days. Why can't all these brilliant politicians get with Hollywood, and start a reality/ tournament series? Seems like it would be a win for everybody. $20,000.00 in prize money is nothing for modern game shows these days. Rednecks, water , fish, and prize money? I'm in . With shows like Ax men , gold rush and others succeeding, I don't understand why this hasn't been tapped into .

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That’s a great idea. It could be just like that show on A&E about the people that hunt the feral hogs in Texas and Louisiana


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they better find a more efficient way to kill them than nets

H r vent 7 seen the z
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Originally Posted by Jman5626

That’s a great idea. It could be just like that show on A&E about the people that hunt the feral hogs in Texas and Louisiana


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Illinois river bath illinois has huge tournament every year by boat with nets. Google it. A hoot

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Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Simply because the virus WON'T "kill them all" .... and even if it did, all those dead carp would foul the water/air to such an extent that the smell would drive away the people, and the water would become devoid of oxygen (from the decaying fish) and likely affect the remaining fish negatively. The cleanup of the dead/dying carp would be a very expensive project, not to mention that the carcasses may only be good for disposal & not fit for even using them for fertilizer ... not to mention they'd no longer be usable for pet food, much less for human consumption. Remember ... we're not just talking about "millions" of carp, we're talking about millions of TONS of carp.

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In large open areas, skimmer nets could get those that are floaters. As for what to do with the fish, I'm sure hoping they could dry them out, grind them up and use them for cattle feed, pet food, or just fertilizer.