Encouraging results for carp eradication continue to be seen as catch rates decline despite a significant increase in effort.
The last three months have revealed a dramatic crash in catch per unit effort. There has been a 400% increase in netting effort when compared with the same quarter in 2014 but the catch rates have declined by 20%. This is good news as it indicates that the carp population has reached a critically low level.
We believe the population has been depleted to be well below 5% of its original size.
Historically, catch rates have increased during this period due to increasing water temperature. However, the decline suggests that the population cannot support sustained catch rates despite increased movement of carp within the lake during the warmer weather. This reduction is consistent across the range of fishing gear being used, suggesting that the entire size range of carp is being effectively targeted.
As the 2015/16 season progresses, the Carp Management team will continue to increase effort and ongoing assessments and adjustments to the fishing strategies will be made in order to rid our water ways of this pest once and for all. Read the latest October to December Carp Report.