Missouri Department of Conservation to remove invasive carp from lower Grand River next week

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Missouri Department of Conservation will conduct an invasive carp removal next week on the Grand River, the department announced in a Thursday press release.

Crews will remove invasive carp from the river from Monday through Thursday, which will require the closure of the Brunswick Access. After being caught, the fish will be brought to a commercial fishing business to be processed into various products, the release says.

The release says officials will target silver, bighead, grass and black carp, which have previously been known as Asian carp. Any other fish species captured will be measured and released as part of research and monitoring of the river’s fishery, according to the release.

Boaters can still access the river at the Bosworth Access.

“Efforts like this project have potential to increase available food and habitat for native fish in the Grand and Missouri rivers. Invasive carp tend to spawn in the slower-moving feeder streams, while young and mature carp congregate in the nutrient-rich waters of deep pools. Continued efforts in these areas could help remove large numbers of invasive carp,” the release says.

Nonnative invasive carp can reproduce and grow quickly to sizes too large for native predator fish to consume.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says those types of carp were brought to the country in the ‘70s “as a biological control for plants, algae and snails in aquaculture, wastewater and retention ponds.” The Minnesota DNR wrote that a few fish escaped during high-water events “and became established in the lower and middle Mississippi River.”