There was a good turnout at the National Carp Control Plan consultation evening at the Forbes Inn on Wednesday evening.

The session in Forbes was the NCCP’s 183^rd session with representation from fishers, landholders, government, environmental and community. 

There was a good deal of questions regarding the Plan.

With the overarching goal of restoring native biodiversity through the Plan, the evening gave an overview of the carp problem as it exists in Australia and a few comparisons with similar situations globally.

The Dominic Nowlan from the Central West Local Land Services gave an overview of some of the work that has been undertaken on riparian areas along the Lachlan River, including habitat mapping between Cottons Weir and Booberoi Weir and looked at key management actions to address threatening processes, including stock management through protective fencing and alternative watering points.

They also looked at weed control of pest plant species such as blackberry, African boxthorn, sweet briar, willows and Osage Orange.

Brett Smith from DPI Fisheries gave an overview of the importance of restoring fish passage and gave some examples of work completed to improve passage.

Brett also spoke about the importance of not looking at one single ‘silver bullet’ to fix the carp problem.

It needs to be a holistic approach.

Jamie Allnutt, Project Manager for the NCCP, reiterated these thoughts, explaining that the Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (the carp virus) is not a one hit wonder.

A few interesting facts about the virus: the optimal temperature is 18 – 28 degrees to spread, impact and kill a carp; once a carp receives the virus, regardless of the temperature, it always remains viable and will wait for the perfect conditions to impact the fish; close contact between fish is required to spread the virus.

With any eradication program, there are always going to be challenges, and it may be a case of short term pain for long term gain in terms of release and impact.  

Visit centralwestlachlanlandcare.org for more of this week’s news. Until next week, happy Landcaring!