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Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Officials Plot 'Carp Blitz' for November 8-10

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is organizing a “Carp Blitz” next month to shed some light on the growing population of invasive Asian carp in Kentucky and Barkley lakes.

The event will take place November 8-10. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency will also be involved, as will commercial fishermen and fish processors. Over the three days they’ll try to collect as many of the fish as possible.

Murray State researchers will also be tagging the fish with telemetry markers to better understand the movement patterns of the fish.

“This very large effort is primarily a sampling or data collection exercise which, if deemed successful, will be repeated annually in order to provide relative abundance and population demographics of Asian carp in Kentucky and Barkley Lakes,” said Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources fisheries director Ron Brooks, in a news release.

“All Asian carp harvested will be donated to the commercial anglers assisting with this effort,” Brooks said. “Kentucky’s fish processing businesses will purchase all fish harvested.”

Brooks said if weather conditions are good, the event should surpass a 2013 effort that netted 83,000 pounds of Asian carp over two days.

John Null is the host and creator of Left of the Dial. From 2013-2016, he also served as a reporter in the WKMS newsroom.
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