BOFFINS down under are creating a so called ‘suicide carp gene’ that will wipe out all carp by preventing the females from successfully spawning. The work is underway in Australia, where the species so revered by anglers in the UK is regarded as vermin.
Many Aussie anglers believe carp have destroyed the native trout fishing and all over the nation work is going on to remove the species from waterways.
Although the Australian Government issues commercial carp gill netting licences in southeast Australia’s Murray Basin, netting the species out of huge venues like this is simply not an option, hence the move to create a gene which will stop the species reproducing.
Carp are at their highest ever levels in the one million square metre Murray Darling Basin system and are thought to make up around 90 per cent of the entire fish population.
Researcher Ron Thresher has been working on the Murray Bay project for several years, but says it has only recently moved ahead because of a $200 million grant from the Murray Darling Basin Commission.

For the full story see January’s Midland Angler and Southern Angler