The following schedule is from the 72nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies which was held October 21-24, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
AUTHORS: Phil D. Ekema, Alabama Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries Division
ABSTRACT: Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix), an invasive variety of Asian carp, are a threat to endemic fish populations as they consume plankton that native fishes depend upon during various stages of their lives. Silver carp have continued to migrate upstream throughout the Mississippi River drainage since their accidental release from aquaculture facilities in the 1970’s. Dams seem to have slowed their advance, but silver carp have successfully traversed their way through the navigational locks of Kentucky Dam on the lower Tennessee River. Unsubstantiated sightings of silver carp by Pickwick Reservoir anglers have increased annually. Recent collections by the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alabama Division of Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries, and Tennessee Technological University have corroborated the upstream migration of this species to Pickwick Reservoir. These reports and collections document the presence of silver carp in Alabama and the potential invasion of reservoirs upstream.
