FARMERS and conservation groups have applauded the Coalition government’s move to introduce a $15 million program in this year’s budget to control feral carp in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Barnaby Joyce said the economic impact of carp was estimated to be up to $500 million a year, mostly in regional Australia and especially along the Murray River.
A statement from Mr Joyce and other senior ministers said the plan includes a staged release of the carp control virus, beginning in the Basin, and other complementary measures to create a long term solution to control the fish pest.
A joint ministerial taskforce will finalise the national plan and includes Industry, Innovation and Science Minister Christopher Pyne, Mr Joyce and Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
Minster Pyne said the $15m plan would be designed in conjunction with State and Territory governments to maximise the impact of biological controls on carp populations while minimising disruption to industries, communities and the environment.
Mr Pyne said the common carp was a “nasty pest” that comprised 80 per cent of fish biomass in the Murray Darling Basin.
He said the Invasive Animals Cooperative Research Centre and the CSIRO had made significant progress evaluating a viral biological control agent.
“We know that it works, we know it’s completely safe, now we need to plan the best way to roll it out,” he said.
“It’s important to remember that while the virus will have a significant immediate and dramatic impact on populations, there will need to be an ongoing process to achieve complete success.”
Mr Joyce said carp were a serious problem but current control measures, including trapping, commercial fishing and exclusion, were expensive and largely ineffective at controlling the feral pest over large areas or for any length of time.
He said the new initiative would provide a long term solution and had already received strong stakeholder support from groups including irrigators, recreational fishing organisations and conservation groups.
Mr Hunt said carp threatened others species by making water turbid, causing erosion and out-competing native fish for food and resources.
“Many native fish species in the Murray Darling Basin are listed as vulnerable or threatened with extinction in large part due to the carp pest,” he said.
“The Ministerial taskforce, part of today’s announcement, will oversee the development of a whole of government National Carp Control Plan managed by a national coordinator with the intention of releasing the carp control virus by the end of 2018.”
Assistant Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Anne Ruston said the control plan was a great step forward in improving confidence and economic prosperity in communities along the Murray Darling Basin.
She said the $15m announcement was welcomed by a huge cross section of stakeholders, and is undoubtedly the long term solution that communities along the Basin have been asking for.
The National Irrigators’ Council Chair Gavin McMahon welcomed the federal budget’s commitment to the control plan, which included the intended release of a carp-specific herpes virus saying it was a step in the right direction.
He said the NIC had long supported other parallel measures to ensure the environmental health of the Basin, noting that reforms under the Basin Plan should not focus solely on water as the singular management tool.
The Plan should also include a range of measures focused equally on food and fibre production, the socio and economic outcomes for regional communities and the environment, he said.
“Farmers and communities who live and work alongside our waterways understand full well the devastating impact of carp and welcome a time when rivers and streams are able to provide the right environmental backdrop for native fish populations to thrive,” he said.
“At the time of the release of the carp herpes virus, it will be critical to ensure that the restocking of systems occurs in such a manner that will enable native species to have every opportunity to thrive, to mitigate any carp reinvasion.”
Australian Conservation Foundation Healthy Ecosystems program manager Jonathan La Nauze said the government’s plan was a good first step towards the control of Australia’s worst freshwater pest.
He said the ACF had been working on the initiative with scientists, invasive species experts, farmers and fishing groups and were pleased the government had listened to its calls.
“Controlling carp is an essential part of the broader effort to restore the health of our rivers and native fish populations,” he said.
“Releasing the virus alone would be a wasted opportunity if it is not supported by other native fish recovery measures that are currently underfunded.
“Controlling carp must go hand-in-hand with rehabilitating riverbanks, making irrigation infrastructure fish-friendly and, of course, the release of environmental flows.”
Cotton Australia General Manager Michael Murray said the most important element of the announcement was the creation of a National Carp Control Plan.
“In our view, the removal of carp would be the single biggest positive towards improving the environmental health of Murray Darling Basin river systems,” he said.