Carp Fishing For Science

[mrmoshe]

Carp fishing for science

When several hundred lines were dropped into the Macintyre river on the Queensland-New South Wales border recently, a team of scientists was watching as keenly as the anglers to see what'd be pulled out.

The Goondiwindi Carp Cull competition offered cash and prizes as well as the chance to help research into control methods for the introduced pest.

The organisers of the competition included the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Queensland Murray Darling Committee and Goondiwindi District Promotions.

DPI&F fisheries biologist Dr Michael Hutchison says the waterways around the town were surveyed and some fish were tagged so the impact of the competition on carp numbers could be measured after the anglers had their fun. Unfished waterways were also studied to allow for short-term environmental impacts.

"There've been a number of fishing competitons held over the past five years or so, but nobody really knows if they have any major effect on carp populations so this is the first time really that we're having a comprehensive look at it."

He says the aim of the project is to determine if such events are an effective method of controlling carp numbers. Ultimately, he says, a manual will be produced to advise local governments and community groups on how best to manage carp in their area.

Researchers from the Invasive Animals CRC surveyed competitors as non-competitors to find out why they did or did not participate. Dr Hutchison says when all of the information is collated, communities across Australia will be able to use it to plan their own events.

Adam Logan, a weed and pest animal technical officer with the Queensland Murray Darling Committee Inc. says 150 carp were caught during the competition, half of them at the Rainbow Reserve area and the rest along the Goondiwindi town reach of the river.

He says two tagged carp were caught out of the 200 or so the scientists had released.