New efforts to remove Asian carp in Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley were announced on Thursday in a release from the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
Ron Brooks from the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife said a strategy originally developed in China will be used to extract the fish.
“The unified method from China basically will set miles of nets in huge reservoirs and systematically push Asian carp from one place within the netting, kind of like compartment, to another compartment,” Brooks said.
Brooks said the fish would then be taken out fo the lake with specialized nets. He said the "unified method" will allow for a large amount of Asian carp to be harvested in a short time. The extraction could take place in February or March, and the Asian carp will then be redistributed to processors in west Kentucky for no cost. Brooks said the cost of the operation will probably not be known until after it has been completed.
The unified method has previously been used to extract Asian carp in Missouri and in the Illinois River, with some early success.
In May, McConnell said reducing the Asian carp population is the number one issue he wants to accomplish in west Kentucky this year and next.
This story previously attributed Brooks as saying the project would cost an estimated $400,000 to $500,000. In a follow up call to WKMS News, Brooks said that stated figure was inaccurate, as the actual project costs won't be offically known until after the extraction process is completed. The change has been noted in the story.
