NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA — The Australian government has committed AUD$15 million (US$11.4 million) of its federal budget toward eradicating its biggest freshwater pest: the common carp.
Native to central Asia, the common carp has no natural predators in Australia and can adapt to different environments, allowing it to easily outcompete native fish species for food and resources. Australia's carp population has gotten so out of control that the invasive species makes up 80 percent of the fish biomass in Australia's Murray-Darling basin.
According to the Guardian, as current population control measures such as trapping and commercial fishing have had little effect on carp populations over large areas, the federal government has had to consider other options.
To combat the rising carp population, Australia plans to release a carp-specific herpesvirus into the basin in 2018, reported ABC News. The virus attaches to their skin, gills and kidneys and makes it difficult for the fish to breathe. The virus multiplies in the carp for about a week, and fish usually die 24 hours after they first show signs of the virus.
While the virus kills the majority of carp populations, it has no effect on native fish species or other aquatic animals. According to ABC News, the government hopes to kill 95 percent of the carp in the river system over the next three decades.
Much of the AUD$15 million the government has set aside for the project will go toward cleaning up the dead carp.
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