Commercial anglers are working to catch invasive Asian carp on Kentucky and Barkley lakes. The anglers have deployed indicator flags to mark the locations of their nets.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Commission voted this spring to allow commercial netting during summer weekends in an effort to control the invasive species population.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife Resources spokesperson Kevin Kelly cautions boaters to not enter through areas marked with the bright yellow flags.
Kelly says, “What we’re trying to do is to avoid any issue where somebody might run across the net, and get their prop fouled or have the lower unit of the boat motor get caught up in any of those nets and cause any damage to those boats.”
Commercial anglers this year have netted 2.8 million pounds of Asian carp from Kentucky waterways. That’s double the 1.1 million netted last year.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife biologist Jessica Morris says approximately 80 percent of the harvest comes from Lake Barkley.
The agency is working with commercial anglers and processors to develop markets for Asian carp.