Silver carp gather in schools of thousands in some areas, and hundreds go airborne at once when spooked, creating a hazard for boaters. (Tennessee Aquarium)

The recent Army Corps of Engineers announcement of public forums to deal with invasive carp marching into the Tennessee and Cumberland River basins and the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway is a wakeup call for those of us who have been outside the danger zone until now. 

The prolific critters WILL find their way into most Mississippi-connected waterways in the eastern half of the U.S., it now appears, but with a lot of effort, cooperation and money, we can at least slow the advance.

Why should you care about these carp, since we have already had common or European carp in most U.S. waters for more than a century?

Bighead, black, grass and silver carp—all native Asian species--were first stocked in fish ponds of the Mississippi basin in the 1970’s to control weed and parasite growth, but they eventually escaped into the Mississippi River basin and established breeding populations. Now they’re making their way up the Mississippi River and its tributaries, and have been found as far north as Minnesota. 

The Tennessee River’s TVA lake chain, the heart of southeastern bass, crappie and catfish country, is now at risk.  Kentucky and Barkley Lakes already are infested and the bass and panfish fishing have been significantly impacted. 

Particularly below dams, the fish stack up in great schools. Biologists say they pass from lake to lake in the TVA system via the locks for commercial traffic. (Tennessee Aquarium)

The carp are moving upstream. They’re already in low numbers in Pickwick. All of the lakes including famed tournament waters like Guntersville and Chickamauga are linked by the Tennessee River, controlled by dams with large locks to move barge traffic. The carp apparently move upstream through the locks.

The most spectacular problem is with silver carp, which jump out of the water when spooked—as by a passing boat. The fish grow to large sizes quickly, and there are millions of them—if you happen to get smacked with a 10-pounder while your bass boat is running along at 50 mph, you’re probably going to the hospital, at best. The fish have caused broken noses, jaws and arms already.

Silvers are also incredibly prolific, and high density populations can filter out nearly all of the nutrient floating loose in the water, normally eaten by gizzard shad which are the base of the food chain in the TVA system. While bass, stripers and catfish will eat baby silvers, they quickly get too big to serve as forage.

Black carp are an environmental problem because they eat mussels and other shellfish, which are an important part of the food chain in the Tennessee River lakes as well as in many other waters.

There’s presently no antidote for the spread of the invasive carp. While commercial netters have been hired to harvest millions of pounds of them, it appears they make no dent in the populations.

Silver carp get huge in a hurry, and they're a good food source, though getting US residents to eat a fish called "carp" may take some doing. (Alabama DCNR)

There might be a slight silver lining to this. Unlike European carp, which have a distinctly muddy taste from most waters because they grub food from bottom, this wave of invasive carp are a totally different class of critter, per USF&W, and they have white, firm, mild flesh, which is excellent table fare, but all have small bones in the filets.

Getting rid of the bones is something like getting around the bones in a Spanish mackerel—see a video on how to do it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1NVUV8yhmU .

If a large, consistent market can be established for the fish, it’s likely the profit motive will put a serious dent in them. But of course, getting most people to eat “carp” is problematic in the U.S.

The Army Corps of Engineers has called several meetings to explore the issue and seek solutions. For all of us who love fishing and boating anywhere in the river chains, attendance would be beneficial. Here’s the schedule:

Tennessee Meeting
Date: August 15, 2024 
Time: 5-7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time
Location: 
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Regional Office 
5105 Edmondson Pike
Nashville, TN 37211

Alabama Meeting
Date: August 27, 2024
Time: 5-7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time
Location: 
Lauderdale County Extension Office
802 Veterans Drive
Florence, AL 35630

Virtual Meeting
Date: August 29, 2024
Time: 5-7:30 p.m. Central Standard Time
Webex Meeting Number: 2760 421 0969
To join by browser: stephen.l.logan@usace1.webex.com
Toll free: (844) 800-2712 
Access code: 2760 421 0969

You can also send comments to CorpsLRNPlanningPublicCom@usace.army.mil no later than September 12, 2024.

— Frank Sargeant