L.W.F.C. Adopts Notice of Intent to Relax Regulations on Taking Silver and Bighead Carp
Posted: 1/8/10
Louisiana Fisheries - SeaGrant - LSU Ag Center
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission, in an initial step to relax
regulations on the recreational harvest of silver and bighead carp, today
approved a 120-day comment period for public input on the subject.
The notice of intent adopted would allow fishermen to take silver and bighead
carp using dip nets, spears and snagging methods. Additionally, since silver
carp can jump several feet out of the water and into boats, fishermen would be
able to use their boats as a legal catching method.
These non-native species were introduced into the United States in the 1970s
to help manage aquaculture ponds and wastewater lagoons. They quickly
escaped into the wild and eventually descended into Louisiana waters from the
north in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Silver and bighead carp are commonly
found in Louisiana in the Mississippi, Red and Ouachita rivers and Atchafalaya
Basin. MORE...