Strategies to Control a Common Carp Population by Pulsed Commercial Harvest

Abstract

Commercial fisheries are commonly used to manage nuisance fishes in freshwater systems, but such efforts are often unsuccessful. Strategies for successfully controlling a nuisance population of common carpCyprinus carpio by pulsed commercial harvest were evaluated with a combination of (1) field sampling, (2) population estimation and CPUE indexing, and (3) simulation using an exponential semidiscrete biomass dynamics model (SDBDM). The range of annual fishing mortalities (F) that resulted in successful control (F= 0.244-0.265) was narrow. Common carp biomass dynamics were sensitive to unintentional underharvest due to high rates of surplus production and a biomass doubling time of 2.7 years. Simulations indicated that biomanipulation never achieved successful control unless supplemental fishing mortality was imposed. Harvest of a majority of annual production was required to achieve successful control, as indicated by the ecotrophic coefficient (EC). Readily available biomass data and tools such as SDBDMs and ECs can be used in an adaptive management framework to successfully control common carp and other nuisance fishes by pulsed commercial fishing. RightsWorks produced by employees of the U.S. Government as part of their official duties are not copyrighted within the U.S. The content of this document is not copyrighted. AbstractCommercial fisheries are commonly used to manage nuisance fishes in freshwater systems, but such efforts are often unsuccessful. Strategies for successfully controlling a nuisance population of common carp Cyprinus carpio by pulsed commercial harvest were evaluated with a combination of (1) field sampling, (2) population estimation and CPUE indexing, and (3) simulation using an exponential semidiscrete biomass dynamics model (SDBDM). The range of annual fishing mortalities (F) that resulted in successful control (F = 0.244-0.265) was narrow. Common carp biomass dynamics were sensitive to unintentional underharvest due to high rates of surplus production and a biomass doubling time of 2.7 years. Simulations indicated that biomanipulation never achieved successful control unless supplemental fishing mortality was imposed. Harvest of a majority of annual production was required to achieve successful control, as indicated by the ecotrophic coefficient (EC). Readily available biomass data and tools such as SDBDMs and ECs can be used in an adaptive management framework to successfully control common carp and other nuisance fishes by pulsed commercial fishing.

Density‐Dependence and Environmental Conditions Regulate Recruitment and First‐Year Growth of Common Carp in Shallow Lakes

“…This information provides valuable insights for fisheries ecologists and managers seeking to understand Common Carp autecology and develop controls for invasive carp populations. For instance, many Common Carp control strategies are size selective and typically only remove adults from the population (Weber and Brown 2009;Weber et al 2011b;Colvin et al 2012). Our results suggest that management strategies that reduce adult populations to improve water quality may release recruitment from density-dependent mechanisms, allowing for the production of large year-classes.…”

Production rates of walleye and their relationship to exploitation in Escanaba Lake, Wisconsin, 1965–2009

“…Thus, relationships between exploitation and production need not be modeled in complex ways, but rather calculated empirically and evaluated directly. For example, Ricker (1946), and later Waters (1992), contended that simple quantification of the fraction of biomass removed by anglers from the annual production (i.e., the "ecotrophic coefficient") informed highly useful inland fisheries management endpoints, and these metrics have since been used in a variety of important fisheries management scenarios (Huryn 1996;Lobón-Cerviá 2005;Colvin et al 2012;Pierce 2012).…”

Fish Growth Changes over Time in a Midwestern U.S. Lake

“…This dichotomy in growth conditions relative to the species’ range between the first and subsequent years in the life history of Common Carp suggests that in addition to continuing efforts to reduce adult Common Carp biomass by commercial‐scale netting (Colvin et al. ), we suggest that future comprehensive control strategies seek to exploit the poor growing conditions for juveniles.…”

“…Recent studies documented a highly abundant Common Carp population in the early 2000s (Larscheid ; Colvin et al. ). The largest annual removal of Common Carp since nuisance fish removals began in 1929 was 111,427 kg (76 kg/ha) removed in 1949 (Iowa Department of Natural Resources, unpublished data), which is roughly half of the average population biomass estimated during 2007 to 2010 (Colvin et al.…”