The Kentucky Fish & Wildlife Commission voted Friday to move forward with a proposed emergency regulation that would allow year-round commercial fishing of Asian carp every day on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley. A spokesperson for the commission said the proposal is expected to be made official by April.
Lyon County Judge-Executive Wade White, who helped coordinate the proposal’s approval, said year-round fishing will help efforts to eradicate Asian carp in both lakes.
“We’re in such a mess now that we got to take the gloves off and get as many of these fish out as possible.” White said.
White gathered more than 200 comments Thursday that he presented to the commission from multiple judge-executives and fishing organizations in support of the proposal.
This proposal would expand the current regulation, which only allows Asian carp commercial fishing on the two lakes during weekdays from April to September.
Commission spokesperson Kevin Kelly said the comments were vital to the commission in approving the proposed regulation.
“Anglers and the general public want Asian carp gone. And so these are changes that will encourage greater harvest of the invasive species,” Kelly said.
Kelly said a past concern with expanding commercial fishing of Asian carp was the potential for recreational boats to crash into fishing nets, especially on weekends. He said the commission plans to create educational materials and signage to help educate boaters on how to avoid crashes.