COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) is conducting an invasive carp removal on the Lamine River. This effort will seek to inform management of invasive carp populations in the state’s big rivers and their smaller connected rivers and creeks. From Sept. 9-12 and Sept. 23-26, MDC will close the De Bourgmont and Harriman Hill accesses for the fish removal project. The project is being conducted in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and FKF Fisheries.

Crews will be removing the carp from the river, and a commercial fishing operation will then process the fish into various products such as a protein additive for animal feeds and for prepared fish bait for anglers.

Removal efforts like this project have potential to increase the available food and habitat for native fish in the Lamine River such as paddlefish, buffalo, and the many smaller fish species that are part of the ecosystem. The invasive carp tend to spawn during periods of high water, and both young and mature carp congregate in the slower feeder streams and in the nutrient-rich water of deep pools. Continued work in those areas has the potential to remove large numbers of invasive carp for the betterment of the native species competing for resources in those areas.

Invasive carp reproduce prolifically and grow quickly to sizes too big for native predator fish to consume. They filter food and nutrients from the water that are needed by the many fish species native to the rivers, including those popular with anglers. One invader, silver carp, grow to large sizes and leap from the water when startled, and they can seriously injure boaters. The removal will target silver, bighead, grass, and black carp. Any other fish species captured will be measured and released as part of research and monitoring of the river’s fishery.

MDC has fish population sampling data from prior years and populations will be sampled after the carp removal. Biologists will monitor how native fish populations respond and how quickly invasive carp re-populate the stream section.

During the operation, the Lamine River can still be accessed by boaters, however, MDC encourages boaters to avoid or limit use on the river during these removal efforts. For those who may travel through the area during the removal efforts, MDC asks that they use caution to avoid interrupting the removal efforts.

For more information on managing invasive carp, visit https://short.mdc.mo.gov/4Tr.