The annual Lake Crescent juvenile carp survey took place on 6 March 2019. This survey aims to make sure carp have not made their way back into Lake Crescent, and to look for any sign of spawning. We have not seen Carp in Lake Crescent since 2007, but we do surveys every year to check.
We focused on areas that carp like. These include rocky or sandy shores and spaces with lots of weed. We fished fourteen areas around the lake using backpack electro-shockers. We caught short-finned eels and golden galaxias but no carp.
A couple of weeks later, from 18 to 22 March, we did the Lake Sorell juvenile carp survey. This survey was to check for any carp spawning over the past few months.
Sixty-six fyke nets were set around the lake near weed beds and parts of the shore where we have caught small carp before. Twenty sites were fished using backpack electro-shockers. Again, we caught many eels and golden galaxias but no juvenile carp.
This is a great outcome and means that we can focus on catching the last few adult carp in Lake Sorell.
Fyke nets in Lake Sorell being checked by Carp Management Program staff during the juvenile carp survey undertaken in March 2019.