MDC Plans Asian Carp Operation For Lower Grand River

The Missouri Department of Conservation will undertake a project in mid-September intended to remove the invasive Asian carp from the lower Grand River. The project will take place at the Brunswick Access of the Grand River and the final 8 miles of the river before it flows into the Missouri River.

Crews will net and remove the carp working with commercial fisherman and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The fish will be utilized as commercial food, feed, and bait products. Anglers will benefit because desired native fish from buffalo and paddlefish to flathead and channel catfish will have less competition for food and space.

Invasive carp reproduce prolifically and crowd rivers, and remove food and nutrients from the food chain that sport fish and other native fish need. The removal will target silver, bighead, grass, and black carp. Besides harming the fishery for sport, the silver carp is a jumping fish that leaps high from the water when startled and has caused serious injuries to boaters.

This project aims to see if netting techniques can capture large numbers of adult and juvenile carp, and that a commercial fishing operation can market them profitably. The aim is to develop future ways that commercial anglers could remove invasive carp from feeder streams and provide benefits for the sport fishery.