Carp problem !! (1 Viewer)

Stuart · Jun 22, 2004

Has anyone had any experience of removing problem carp from a pond, my local bird group has for some years taken over two flood protection lakes, which has had some carp move down in a flood from a fishing lake farther up stream.They have netted them once, but the wildlife of the lake seems to have taken a drastic nose dive, breeding coot, moorhen seem to have left, dragonflies that were once plentifull have also vanished!! I must add that the lakes are in a middle of a town and the public, dog walkers are regular and the duck feeding public isnt helping !!

Just wandering if anyone has had this major problem before ??

Stuart :h?:

Steve · Jun 22, 2004

Ironic stuart, we have a thread running on the problem of cormorants and fish stocks and Now your post on problem carp and disappearing wildlife. Im sure there are many anglers who would want to swap you the carp for the cormorants!

Anthony Morton · Jun 30, 2004

Steve said:
Ironic stuart, we have a thread running on the problem of cormorants and fish stocks and Now your post on problem carp and disappearing wildlife. Im sure there are many anglers who would want to swap you the carp for the cormorants!

Steve is absolutely right and too many carp is a problem that most angling clubs would just love to have!

As for linking the disappearance of coots and moorhens to the arrival of the carp, this is something I've never heard of before as these fish are not predators. You mention human disturbance, which could certainly have an effect on water birds, and another possibility could be that a mink has moved in - particularly if the birds have gone in a very short space of time. However, this would still not explain the vanishing dragonflies!

Michael Frankis · Jun 30, 2004

Anthony Morton said:
As for linking the disappearance of coots and moorhens to the arrival of the carp, this is something I've never heard of before as these fish are not predators.

But they do compete for the same food supply, for Coots at least - one lake up here, feeding competition from carp has been blamed as one possible cause for a significant decline in Coot numbers

Michael

Steve G · Jun 30, 2004

As Michael states competition is the problem. Large Carp are aquatic cows-in fact the analogy is poor as cows are fairly selective with respect to the vegetation they consume- Carp are not & like all cyprinids the juvenile forms are heavy consumers of aquatic invertebrates.
Infestation with Carp...-sounds like another problem for that avian super-hero the Sea Eagle!

Michael Frankis · Jun 30, 2004

Yeah, a few White-tailed Eagles - the carp in the lake I'm thinking of are too big for Cormorants to deal with . . . (tho' the Otters have been taking a few)

Michael

alan_rymer · Jun 30, 2004

Stuart said:
Has anyone had any experience of removing problem carp from a pond, my local bird group has for some years taken over two flood protection lakes, which has had some carp move down in a flood from a fishing lake farther up stream.They have netted them once, but the wildlife of the lake seems to have taken a drastic nose dive, breeding coot, moorhen seem to have left, dragonflies that were once plentifull have also vanished!! I must add that the lakes are in a middle of a town and the public, dog walkers are regular and the duck feeding public isnt helping !!

Just wandering if anyone has had this major problem before ??

Stuart :h?:

Stuart
Is there lots of weed in the ponds?. Both Carp and Coot like it for food, but its essential for the Coot. Carp can take their food from other sources.

Try getting in touch with the local Environmental Agency Fisheries office, They may come and net or Electro Fish them out after first catching a couple and having them tested for parasites and infectious deseases. Some fish can't be moved to other lakes because they carry so many bugs. Fishing clubs will pay big money for large legally transferred healthy Carp. A 20lb Carp is worth a couple of Hundred quid or more. Its also possible that the EA can do some tests on the quality of the water to check for problems!.

HTH

Carp problem !! (1 Viewer)

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