CARPMAP, an online survey tool to support community surveillance of carp aggregations, has been launched today by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation, and it is being led by you!
Recreational fishers, Landcare volunteers, farmers, tourists and all members of the public are being asked to report information on these ‘aggregations’ in our waterways.
“If you have observed more than 20 carp together (called an aggregation) we want to know about it,” said Matt Barwick, National Carp Control Plan Co-ordinator.
“The survey is easy to do and only takes a few minutes of your time and will help support future carp management plans in Australia”.
“Understanding carp aggregations not just locally but at a national scale will be critical for an effective national approach to carp control”.
“We have already trialled a successful community survey to map carp aggregations in the Lachlan catchment and now we want a get a national picture, to not only inform our research program but to support future carp management strategies” said Mr Barwick.
Peter Durr is a CSIRO scientist leading NCCP funded research to understand how a carp virus, known as Cyprinid herpesvirus 3, could be effectively released in Australian waterways.
“We need information on at least 2000 carp aggregation events to complete our picture” said Peter Durr.
“Without carp aggregation knowledge we may not be able to accurately predict how the carp virus would work in Australia.”
CARPMAP is developed by a team specialising in invasive species citizen science projects. It can be found here https://carpmap.org.au.
CARPMAP is a joint initiative community surveillance program led by Fisheries Research and Development Corporation with support from the Centre for Invasive Species Solutions, the NSW Department of Primary Industries and CSIRO.
