The Aussie view of carp

[Dick Dastardly]

i'd agree with that, but only if we could have some murray cod

 

And as far as I understand the situation down under (Bob?) it is because carp are over running the river systems that species such as the Murray Cod are in decline?

 

I like fishing (or should that be liked?) for Carp but with the modern trend to just overstock every available piece of water with them hope we never get to the stage when Brit anglers wish we had adopted the same aproach to them as our colonial friends!

[Ken L]

Sorry to say that there is no shortage of UK waters that have been turned into muddy troughs due to a large carp biomass being introduced.

I'm 100% behind the Aussies on this.

A lot of carp is turned into pet food, berley (ground bait) or fertilizer over there so it's not a total loss.

[Bobj]

And as far as I understand the situation down under (Bob?) it is because carp are over running the river systems that species such as the Murray Cod are in decline?

 

I like fishing (or should that be liked?) for Carp but with the modern trend to just overstock every available piece of water with them hope we never get to the stage when Brit anglers wish we had adopted the same aproach to them as our colonial friends!

 

It was originally. But the carp have grubbed the overhangs of the banks, causing the sides to fall in, thus muddying the waters to such an extent that the natives cannot survive.

I remember that many years ago, the Barwon river, in north west N.S.W. was a clear river and the carp invaded it. You could put in a scoop and you would get perhaps 50 carp up to 6 inches Now the water is a very "thick soup", which kills any weed, which depletes the oxygen.

Edited February 12, 2007 by Bobj

[Newt]

Now the water is a very "thick soup", which kills any weed, which depletes the oxygen.

 

The loss of weed should greately hinder the carp's ability to spawn with any success and should greatly reduce the available food supply so populations should dwindle and if carp were the cause of all the water problems, things should begin to improve if left alone.

[Steve Walker]

If I had my way (not that it happens very often) then I would have all the foreign fish out of our waters too, and yes that does includes zander, catfish and the holy carp. This is not a troll, members who have been on AN for a while will know that it is not the first time I have posted this opinion.

 

How far back in time do you want to go, though? I'd love to see a return of the wildie strain, and crucians which aren't interbred with goldfish, but you're talking about going further back beyond the earliest introductions of carp around AD1350. Obviously we'd need to eradicate barbel from the nation's Westward flowing rivers, and pretty much everything bar salmonids, eels and sticklebacks from Ireland. Unless we're going further back still, to pre-ice age assemblages, in which case we might need to import some new species from the other parts of the Rhine catchment...

[Bobj]

Now the water is a very "thick soup", which kills any weed, which depletes the oxygen.

 

The loss of weed should greately hinder the carp's ability to spawn with any success and should greatly reduce the available food supply so populations should dwindle and if carp were the cause of all the water problems, things should begin to improve if left alone.

 

Not so, Newt. The carp in the western rivers of the Murray-Darling system have managed to breed quite well, must be the amount of riverside timber that has fallen in to the river beds, for them to lay their eggs on and around.

[Newt]

Wow!! Fallen timber - When you said they were rooting into the bankside and causing erosion, I didn't realize they were doing such a bang up job of it.

 

Given the poor to worse-than-poor results from our efforts to eliminate various invasive species or to even significantly control their numbers, I wish you folks better success than we've had.

[bingo]

I saw Rex Hunt fly fishing for carp the other day. He seemed genuinely surprised at how hard they were to catch. He caught a couple but you could tell he was struggling. He admitted himself that he just expected to toss a line in and catch them easily. He didn't seem aware that they get spooked easily!

 

He said that he was going to kill them as it's the law which is fair enough but it seems like a complete waste of time. Either do it properly or not at all?

 

It's all very well moaning about them and going on about preserving native fish but if people don't fish for them how are they going to get caught? Bit of a vicious circle really.

[Bobj]

Wow!! Fallen timber - When you said they were rooting into the bankside and causing erosion, I didn't realize they were doing such a bang up job of it.

 

Given the poor to worse-than-poor results from our efforts to eliminate various invasive species or to even significantly control their numbers, I wish you folks better success than we've had.

 

http://www.pestanimal.crc.org.au/faq3.htm

I hope the authorities get this show up and running.

[Leon Roskilly]

http://www.pestanimal.crc.org.au/faq3.htm

I hope the authorities get this show up and running.

 

 

Never mind the damage done to native species in Australia, It's difficult these days to find natural still waters in the UK with a good head of roach, rudd, tench, bream and perch, and very few (if any) carp.

 

The daughterless carriers have normal reproductive capacity and the gene is heritable, so daughterless males can pass on the daughterless gene to wild type carp.

 

I suspect that it won't be long before the 'daughterless carp' gene finds its way over here, then we can all go back to proper fishing with those decades of carp madness put behind us.

 

I wonder how long it will take to work its magic once introduced?