NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee officials said commercial anglers have removed 10 million pounds of invasive carp under a state incentive program.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency said its Asian Carp Harvest Incentive Program that began in 2018 reached the milestone in July in Kentucky and Barkley reservoirs.
Officials said four Asian carp species were first found in and remain in the Mississippi River. They have migrated into Tennessee waters via locks at Kentucky and Barkley dams and have entered Reelfoot Lake during high flows through its spillway.
The fish threaten to upend aquatic ecosystems, starve out native fish and wipe out endangered mussel and snail populations along the Mississippi and tributaries. Some also will jump and injure boaters.
