Hi-tech cage to help fight explosion of carp in the Lachlan

by Sarah Chester on 31 May 2011 A carp separation cage has been installed at Bumbuggan Creek, south east of Condobolin, in an effort to fight an explosion of carp in the Lachlan River.

NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI) Project Officer at Narrandera Fisheries Centre, Martin Asmus, said large numbers of adult carp will be captured in the cage in August and September, leading up to their spawning season.

'The cage installed at Bumbuggan Creek, which runs off the Lachlan River into Goobang Creek, is the second cage to be put in the Lachlan River catchment, along with Island Creek near Condobolin,' he said.

'The cages are positioned on the exit gates of fishways used by native and exotic fish to move past weirs, and are designed to impede the passage of large adult carp by exploiting their jumping behaviour when faced with a barrier.

'The carp jump into a holding cage or a drafting cage to the side, where they stay trapped until they are removed on a weekly basis, and utilised on-site at Narrandera Fisheries or commercially through various markets.

'The traps are automated so they let the native fish go on a regular basis.'

Mr Asmus said the cage was fabricated locally in Condobolin by David Salter at Condobolin Steel.

'A lot of research and development has been undertaken during construction of this second cage to fine tune its operation and maximise its catching ability,' he said.

The carp cages are part of the work undertaken since 2007 by a collaborative team to establish a demonstration site in the lower Lachlan catchment to trial and showcase carp control technologies developed by the Commonwealth funded Invasive Animals CRC.

The team includes: NSW DPI, Lachlan Catchment Management Authority, South Australian Research and Development Institute, Department of Sustainability and Environment, State Water Corporation, Kingfisher Research Pty Ltd, the Victorian Department of Primary Industries and the commercial carp fishers K & C Fisheries Global Pty Ltd.

'So far hundreds of thousands of carp have successfully been removed from the Lachlan catchment and plans are now in place to install a third carp separation cage at Booligal and possibly a fourth at Lake Cargelligo,' Mr Asmus Department of Primary Industries NSW website