1/2 Million Asian Carp dead!

The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources is investigating a massive die-off of Asian carp discovered Wednesday, April 23, in the Cumberland River below Lake Barkley.
The fish kill is estimated to have impacted tens of thousands of the invasive silver carp over a 24-hour period. Specimens will be collected and taken to Kentucky State University for disease testing.
“Whenever there is one species of fish, you are definitely thinking viral or bacterial,” said Paul Rister, western fisheries district biologist with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “It’s not anything water quality wise. If it was oxygen-related or chemical related you would see other species. Primarily what we are seeing below Barkley Dam is all Asian carp.”
Evidence of the fish kill has been documented to the confluence with the Ohio River. Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley do not appear to be impacted at this time, Rister said.
“There are still some jumping in the turbulence of the water right below the dam and there are some that are swimming right under the water surface,” he said. “We’ve got a couple of those and they appear to have fungal infections on their back, which is a secondary infection of some other type of stressor.”
The silver carp is one of four species of Asian carp, which have spread throughout much of the Mississippi River basin after escaping from fish farms in the 1970s.
In Kentucky, the fish are found throughout most of the Ohio River, Kentucky River, Green River, Salt River and Rough River. Kentucky and Barkley lakes also host large populations.
Asian carp are a threat to Kentucky’s native species because they feed on plankton. Plankton forms the base of the food chain, which many sport fish rely upon after hatching.

Herein might lie a clue as to how to get rid of these beasts.

Who knows what can happen when you mess with mother nature though.

Tens of thousands. Wow.

I reckon the catfish and turtles along with the buzzards will be dining good for a while.

The worst of a fish kill that has claimed upward of a half million Asian carp in the Cumberland River below Lake Barkley dam is believed to be over.
On Friday, April 25, fisheries biologists with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources returned to the area as the focus shifted to learning what might have caused the considerable die-off of invasive silver carp.
“Anglers were seeing dead fish a week ago, some two weeks ago, which is very typical of a fish kill caused by some type of viral pathogen,” said Paul Rister, western fisheries district biologist with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “It’s kind of a bell-shaped curve. You start seeing a few die, and a few more die, and then you reach the peak of the massive die-off. I think we’re on that downhill side now.”
After conferring with Asian carp researchers from around the country, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Director Ron Brooks said the belief among experts is that the fish kill found below Barkley Dam to the Cumberland River’s confluence with the Ohio River is the largest ever involving Asian carp in the United States.
Silver carp, which are not native to the United States, appear to be the only fish affected. To help move the mass of fish downriver, the U.S. Corps of Engineers on Thursday opened three gates at Barkley Dam to flush dead fish downstream.
“I don’t think people have to worry about those pathogens affecting native species,” Brooks said. “That’s probably the best news of all.”
While the cause has not been confirmed, possibilities include overstress from spawning or the presence of a pathogen that disrupts brain function in the fish, Brooks said.
“Any time you have an event where there are a lot of fish congregating, it’s just like any other animal, the chance for a pathogen to spread increases,” he said. “Whether it’s that pathogen or some other stressor, no one will know until we get word from the researchers.”
Dying silver carp collected from the area by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife will undergo disease testing at Kentucky State University. Kentucky Fish and Wildlife also is working the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as well as agencies from bordering states and Purdue University.
Fisheries biologists visited nearby Kentucky Lake dam Friday after receiving reports of dead Asian carp on the Tennessee River. After investigating the area, the cause of death of those fish is believed to be due to bow anglers and snaggers.
Asian carp find the Cumberland and Tennessee rivers hospitable because the water discharged from Lake Barkley and neighboring Kentucky Lake is so fertile, Brooks said.
He is hopeful researchers find something from this fish kill that leads to the eventual eradication of Asian carp. Silver carp are plankton feeders and threaten the well-being of native fish and mussels by over-harvesting that vital source of nutrition.
“It’s comforting to know there’s something out there that might take these things out before they just devastate everything,” Brooks said. “Right now we just don’t have it.”

Large Asian Carp fish kill reported. Lets just hope that through testing some of these dead fish this will lead to a scientific solution to eradicate them.

[URL]http://wkyufm.org/post/half-million-asian-carp-feared-dead-massive-fish-kill[/URL]

Wish they all would of died... Been hearing rumors the Asians may be in Taylorsville lake now after folks would think they was catching shad below the dam but instead they was taking baby Asians back to the man lake with em. Sounds logical but like I said just rumors

Darn....caught me. I relieved myself.......

Wouldn't it be great if it was a product of sub-freezing weather this winter/spring?

Here is another article about it with a little more information. Here are a few quotes:

[URL]http://www.kyforward.com/art-landers-outdoors/2014/04/28/worst-of-asian-carp-fish-kill-over-experts-say-half-million-dead-in-largest-carp-die-off-in-u-s/[/URL]


[quote]The worst of a fish kill that has claimed upward of a half-million Asian carp in the Cumberland River below Lake Barkley dam is believed to be over.

This past Friday, fisheries biologists with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources returned to the area as the focus shifted to learning what might have caused the considerable die-off of invasive silver carp.


“Anglers were seeing dead fish a week ago, some two weeks ago, which is very typical of a fish kill caused by some type of viral pathogen,” said Paul Rister, western fisheries district biologist with Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “It’s kind of a bell-shaped curve. You start seeing a few die, and a few more die, and then you reach the peak of the massive die-off. I think we’re on that downhill side now.”

After conferring with Asian carp researchers from around the country, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Fisheries Director Ron Brooks said the belief among experts is that the fish kill found below Barkley Dam to the Cumberland River’s confluence with the Ohio River is the largest ever involving Asian carp in the United States.


Silver carp, which are not native to the United States, appear to be the only fish affected. To help move the mass of fish downriver, the U.S. Corps of Engineers on Thursday opened three gates at Barkley Dam to flush dead fish downstream.

“I don’t think people have to worry about those pathogens affecting native species,” Brooks said. “That’s probably the best news of all.”....[/quote]


[quote]
He is hopeful researchers find something from this fish kill that leads to the eventual eradication of Asian carp. Silver carp are plankton feeders and threaten the well-being of native fish and mussels by over-harvesting that vital source of nutrition.

“It’s comforting to know there’s something out there that might take these things out before they just devastate everything,” Brooks said. “Right now we just don’t have it.”[/quote]

I had posted this in the wrong forum.
I have now merged these threads.

See article:

[URL]http://www.fishin.com/forums2/content.php/2323-Cause-of-Asian-Carp-Die-Off[/URL]