Managing the spread
Since their entry into the lower Mississippi River some 50 years ago, invasive carp proliferated and are now widespread throughout much of the 31-state Mississippi River basin and threaten the Great Lakes.
Over the last five decades, as they gradually spread and grew abundant in many areas, invasive carp have depleted the vitality of many rivers, lakes and reservoirs within the Mississippi鈥檚 broad reach. Invasive carp now represent one of the most urgent, wide-ranging and complex environmental challenges of our time.
Up and down the Mississippi River waterways and throughout the Great Lakes, the bet365下载ios and our partners are working together across the waterscape to protect our environment, our favorite outdoor pastimes and our economic prosperity. Together, we are carrying out more than 80 projects to manage invasive carp.
Learn more about managing invasive carp
Invasive carp species
Silver Carp Bighead Carp Black Carp Grass Carp
What makes invasive carp so harmful?
Invasive carp are voracious feeders that grow and multiply quickly and have no significant predators. When they move into an area and become established, they leave a trail of destruction in their wake:
- In the most infested areas, invasive carp wipe out populations of other aquatic species 鈥 from tiny zooplankton and vegetation to mollusks and fisheries 鈥 disrupting the entire food web in aquatic environments
- They jeopardize the safety and quality of our outdoor experiences, causing physical harm to anglers and boaters when they leap from the water and diminishing opportunities for on-the-water recreation where they are abundant
- They have significant economic impacts in communities that rely on certain commercial fisheries and outdoor recreation and tourism-related businesses. They threaten our broader economic stability the more they spread.
Where are invasive carp populations now?
The distribution of each of the four kinds of invasive carp in North America is different. Grass carp are the most widespread and, unlike the others, have populations outside the Mississippi River basin. The bighead carp is believed to have the largest distribution of the three others, with silver carp occupying a similarly broad range. Because they are bottom-feeders, black carp are harder to find and efforts are underway to get more thorough information on their distribution.
As invasive carp became established throughout the lower Mississippi River, they moved into the major tributaries, including the Arkansas, Red and White Rivers in the lower region, upstream into the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers reaching east and the Missouri River reaching west, and then into the Illinois River toward Lake Michigan. In recent years, they have increasingly spread into the upper Mississippi River region as well.
The population densities of invasive carp vary considerably by species and location and invasive carp are not necessarily established in every location where they are detected. Within the Mississippi River basin, there are still some outer reaches, reservoirs and areas between navigation dams that do not have self-sustaining populations. Many of our projects are focused on holding the line to prevent further spread in areas where there is an existing population front, which is the term we use to describe dense concentrations of invasive carp as they migrate upstream.
The situation with grass carp is different from the other kinds of invasive carp in North America. Unlike the others, there is a known grass carp population in the Great Lakes, specifically in Lake Erie, and they have historically been detected in all the other Great Lakes except Superior. There is currently no evidence to suggest that the Great Lakes are home to self-sustaining populations of bighead carp, black carp or silver carp.
More specific information on each species is available from the U.S. Geological Survey鈥檚 Nonindigenous Aquatic Species Database showing the current distribution of ,鈥,鈥 and in North America.
