Warning to anglers: Invasive carp moving up Tennessee River

Silver carp are invading the TVA lakes

Invasive silver carp have apparently made their way into Alabama's TVA lakes and are already showing up in Tennessee River lakes in east Tennessee.

Anglers and conservationists who have been worried about the arrival of invasive silver carp in Alabama waters just got a wakeup call.

The Tennessee Wildlife Resources has confirmed that a fish that jumped into Dustin Hinkle’s boat on Lake Chickamauga in October is one of these dreaded critters, known for reproducing in the millions and making some waterways risky for boaters due to their jumping behavior.

Chickamauga is two lakes upstream from Guntersville and other TVA lakes in Alabama, which likely means the fish or their forebearers passed through Alabama waters and that lots of them could still be there. silver carp are so abundant in Kentucky Lake, downstream of Pickwick, that they’ve reportedly decimated the bass population there, and some have already been reported in Pickwick.

Hinkle said the invasive fish “jumped into the boat as I deployed my trolling motor.” Hinkle encountered the fish near the Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, and stated he “saw 15-20 more fish near the surface” exhibiting a feeding behavior.

“No additional reports have been made since this occurrence.” said Cole Harty, TWRA’s aquatic nuisance species coordinator. “This is an excellent reminder to report carp sightings from East Tennessee, where carp are not already known to be established. We encourage anyone reporting to include photos, location information, and if possible keep a fish frozen to share with TWRA.”

It is likely that these fish traveled up the Tennessee River through navigation locks, ultimately finding their way to Chickamauga Lake. “TWRA has been working with multiple partners to limit the spread and impact of invasive Asian carp in Tennessee,” said Frank Fiss, TWRA Fisheries Chief. “This new observation demonstrates the urgency of the issue.”

Other than becoming flying missiles that sometimes smack boaters, the carp are considered a threat to gamefish populations because they vacuum up all the algae and plankton in a lake as they reach critical mass, starving outpopulations of smaller baitfish like gizzard shad and thus reducing the food supply for bass and other gamefish.

Fry-sized gamefish also rely on zooplankton for their food and can be wiped out by dense concentrations of carp, according to biologists with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The carp quickly become too large for bass to eat, reaching more than 50 pounds and living 20 years.

Because of the threat, Alabama has joined forces with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to work collectively on mitigating the spread of silver carp. A multiple-state group called the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resources Association has been formed by the 28 states in the Mississippi basin. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Service, Tennessee Valley Authority, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and two Native American tribes are also members of the coalition.

With federal funding, Tennessee Tech was tasked with monitoring numerous lakes, including Pickwick, for silver carp. One of the goals is to catch silver carp and insert sonic tags to allow the tracking of the fish movements.

A few years ago Tennessee Tech researchers’ netting in Bear Creek on Pickwick made a disturbing discovery. In the six net-sets, 75 silver carp were caught, according to Alabama DCNR Fisheries Division Chief Nick Nichols.

Several different methods are being evaluated in deterring the migration of silver carp, Nichols said, including electronic barriers and large hydrophones to scare the fish away from the locks. Although these methods are experimental, Nichols hopes the sonic devices will be installed below Barkley Dam and Pickwick Dam in the next couple of years.

Nichols said it may be up to Mother Nature to limit the spread of silver carp, which require tributary systems to successfully spawn. Meantime, anglers on Alabama’s TVA lakes should keep their eyes open for flying fish.

Video of leaping carp in Mississippi River:

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