National Carp Control Plan

USE of a herpes virus to kill off carp from Australia’s rivers may not be begin until September next year — if the National Carp Control Plan gets approval at all. And more than $500,000 is being used to cover costs of just two staff members from the federal Environment Department working on the controversial plan. It comes after  The Weekly Times  reported last week that those developing a way to safely unleash the koi herpes virus are running out of cash to finish vital research. The $15 million carp control project has until the end of this year to develop a plan for the controlled release of the virus in a bid to wipe out the fish. The Government will make the final decision on whether it goes ahead, based on the proposal. However, the virus won’t be able to be deployed without approval from the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, which needs to conduct a full assessment of the virus — including public consultation — before it can be used. An AP

Parks Victoria is undertaking an urgent European Carp removal program from the Sale Common Nature Conservation Reserve to avoid a potential black water event. In times of natural flooding, Carp enter the wetlands from the La Trobe River and can co-exist with native species when the water levels are high.  However, the wetlands are now going through a natural drying phase, so the huge numbers of Carp currently found within the Sale Common are rapidly deoxygenating the water as the water levels recede. Parks Victoria has had to act swiftly to remove up to 30 tonnes of Carp to avoid a ‘mass fish kill’ event, which would ultimately impact on the long-term health of the wetland and native aquatic animals such as platypus, eels, water rats and crustaceans. Parks Victoria has engaged the services of local professional fishermen to catch the Carp alive and will be transported in tanks for research purposes as part of the National Carp Control Plan.  This prevents the deg

Final report: Phase 3 of the carp herpesvirus project (CyHV-3) Dr Ken McColl Principal Research Veterinarian CSIRO – Australian Animal Health Laboratory. Link And the gold is below

Australia is the only continent free of this notifiable disease, yet the Australian Government seems determined to release this disease into Australian waters. After reading the Final report: Phase 3 of the carp herpesvirus project (CyHV-3), Dr Ken McColl (2016), I was alarmed and disappointed. The CSIRO operates under the The Science and Industry Research Act 1949, their purpose is to carry out scientific research for the benefit of Australia. The CSIRO conducted research based on the hypothesis “Cyprinid herpesvirus 3 (CyHV-3; also known as koi herpesvirus, or the carp herpesvirus) could be used as a safe and effective biological control agent for carp in Australia”. Disappointingly, they failed to conduct good scientific research as per the results published in the “Final Report”. To be good science outcomes must be consist. The research methods and findings must be able to be repeated by others to confirm the researcher’s assertions are true. This is a key factor that separa