Invasive Black Carp Fetches Bounty of $100 Per Carcass in Mississippi River

The Mississippi River has been reported to still have sightings of invasive black carp, for which authorities are paying a bounty of $100 per carcass.

Invasive Black Carp in the Mississippi River

The Mississippi River basin has reported hundreds of black carp, and the invasive fish damage the area's environment by endangering crucial native species.

Black carp have been established in the Mississippi River basin, according to a report published in December by scientists from Southern Illinois University, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Geological Survey, Missouri State University, and the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Eastern Asian native black carp were sent to private fish farms in the US in the 1970s and 1980s in tainted imported grass carp populations, according to the USFWS.

According to a USGS press statement from December 2022, the usage of black carp in these kinds of aquatic ecosystems is restricted and subject to permissions, and it is unclear how the fish managed to escape such conditions.

The USGS keeps an online database of aquatic non-native species, which includes black carp.

The species has been discovered in several locations, including the Mississippi River, Kaskaskia River, Horseshoe Lake, Illinois River, and Ohio River.

Not all reports are current, and some reports can refer to multiple fish as the database displays reports going at least back to 2013.

Moreover, not all reports indicate the animal has an established population.

The database currently contains 58 records of black carp from the Mississippi River, Ohio River, Illinois River, and Horseshoe Lake.

Since 2013, 1,038 new black carp sighting reports, including those from the Mississippi River and various other bodies of water, have been submitted to the database.

Black carp have been reported in the US for years, but according to Patrick Kroboth, a US Geological Survey research fish biologist, the December study was the first time scientists were able to provide solid evidence that the species has become established in the Mississippi River or anywhere else in the nation.

According to Kroboth, some of the milestones we've measured include the species existing in the wild, reproducing, and living to adulthood.

$100 Per Carcass Bounty

Live black carp possession is prohibited due to the invasive nature of the species.

The "keep, cool, call" method should be used while catching black carp, advises the USGS. Fishers must identify the species, maintain the fish, record the spot where it was discovered, and take pictures of the fish.

The USGS encourages anyone who reels in black carp to "humanely kill" them and to keep them cool on ice (but not necessarily frozen).

Then, inform the local authorities about the fish.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources may pay anglers a $100 bonus per carcass if they take the effort to turn in any black carp caught, and payments are subject to the availability of funds and are restricted to ten grants per individual monthly.

However, common carp and grass carp are frequently mistaken for black carp, Belleville News-Democrat reported.