Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just got off the phone to my parents, they are fishing on the murray. The old man was saying all they have caught all day is carp. He went on to say the banks are littered with carp, everywhere you look. I had no idea it was that bad.

Such a shame.

That is why you should thank the WA goverment, when you look at carp here and the Thai python in the states it is a good thing that one state is a bit strickt. Natives I have no problems with but we only have to think of the cane toad, rabbit and carp as an example to introduced species.

last time I was on the murray (around duck open), all we got were small carp (around 50 in 2 days from one small hole), and there were heaps of other fish in the system to. we got 2 decent yellowbelly, quite a few silvers, and some cod as well. also plenty of shrimp in the system. so as a whole, i dont think the system is in bad nick, its just that there has always been a lot of carp in it.

now if only people would at least bury the carp, or better yet, chuck them on the fire, it wouldnt look so bad.

I watched a tv show years ago where scientists were working on genetically modifying some carp so they only throw male offspring, then they were going to release them into the Murray/Darling in all the carp hotspots... what's happened with that program, anyone know?

I believe that study either ran out of money, or didnt work out as well as they hoped, or both.

last time i was there, there was word that native fish had started eating carp eggs and carp young, something that had previously not been observed. whether thats true or not, who knows.

Maybe we should just change our eating habits. As far as I know carp is still the most widely consumed fish species in the world*. When I lived in Canberra we pulled out some monsters from both Lake Ginninderra and Lake Burley-Griffin. Since I hate waste I researched some carp recipes and these big fish, which were so much fun for my kids to catch, were put to very good culinary use. I admit that I had a bugger of a time trying to fillet them, with their strange rib bone configuration. I think the Asian families with whom I was competing for the carp had the right idea because, from what I understand, they turned their carp into fish patties - no filleting required as it all went into a grinder!


* A carp dish is the national dish of Hungary, I believe.

The study was right on target then this year the Federal goverment pulled their grant, they only needed 12 months more and the solution was there. This was also working with an Americian research group who had their founding pulled in the US. This only amounted to abount $50,000 US to complete the project.

With both projects they said they could beat the carp and also other introduced pest. This was reported on Landline a couple of months ago. For our US friends Landline is a top rated Agriculture reporting show in Australia.

if you can get the mud out of them, I believe they can be OK, even if just as fish cakes.

The problem is that until recently it was illegal to be in possession of them, dead or alive (certainly in victoria anyway, where I grew up fishing). Its still illegal to have them alive I believe. So, the question is, do you risk your boat, car and gear to take a couple of carp home to purge them, or do you just chuck em on the fire and eat something worth eating? I hate waste too, but i'd hate more to end up donating all my gear to fisheries for the cause.

We are talking about this on another forum.
This article was brought up...

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/ ... e=fullpage

But then if we remember the point of view of a recent member, there's no such thing as ferel pests and they don't really cause damage...

I'd like to try eating carp.. Saw an episode of River Cottage a while back where they grew carp, cooked them up and fed them to unsuspecting guests and everyone loved it.. To be fair I think they were cooked with a fair few bits added, not just a lightly grilled fillet..

I wonder what carp taste like? Has anyone here tried them before? I think Id give it a go... just so I know. Was talking to a friend tonight who said he remembered fishing the murray as a young tacker and was catching carp then (maybe 15 years ago), I really had no idea. How destructive are they to the Murray?

Charlie, carp in australia taste like mud... nothing more, nothing less. I believe if they are properly purged, they are a very non-descript white fleshed fish.

they have previously been very destructive to many river systems in australia. the murray seems to be one thats actually recovering.

I have eaten freshwater Barramundi up in the Territory that tasted muddier than the carp that I ate from the ACT lakes. Given an opportunity to purge them they would have been half decent, but that is why carp recipes involve sweet and sour, or spicy flavours. They will never be as tasty in their own right as good quality fish but they are still a thoroughly usable resource. As far as it being illegal to be in possession of them dead or alive, if that was indeed the law then the law is an ass! I would have challenged that nonsense as far as I had to go until common sense prevailed. When I was over east I used to hear all the time that it was illegal to throw carp back if you caught them. What a load of crap! How can any government legislate that someone who catches a fish is required to kill it.

Mate, if you had fished the murray river in search of our ever elusive,native,legendary, fish of a life time. Then sitting on the banks of a river for an entire weekend catching nothing but 25cm carp hand over fist, twisting there heads off and burning then. It all gets a bit tedious after a while.

If you ever would like to come to vic and experience the damage our past has presented us with, you are welcome to come along on our occasional carp bashing exercises if only we could be bothered doing it more frequently we might be able to keep up with there breeding. :evil::evil::evil::evil::evil:

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and you would have lost. its a declared noxious species. Like I said, when I was growing up it was essentially illegal to take them home for catfood. now you can at least possess them, but they have to be dead as soon as they are out of the water and off the hook. we normally just chuck them on the fire.

and BNDYBEAR, I actually didnt mind catching carp all weekend (I think we got 45 in 3 days). They were only in the muddier holes and backwaters , and there were plenty of good natives if you went looking for nice snags. the carp are great fun with real light gear and a beer in the other hand. And we felt like we were doing the river a service.