Australia to destroy alien carp by releasing herpes into rivers

HOLY CARP!


A carpageddon is coming. The Australian government has announced a A$15 million plan to release a herpes virus into the rivers, in a bid to wipe out the country’s most notorious fish pest.

Carp have decimated native Australian fish populations since their introduction in 1859, particularly in the Murray-Darling river system, where they now make up 80 per cent of fish numbers.

Scientists at CSIRO, Australia’s national research body, have spent the last seven years investigating the potential of a carp-specific herpes strain – cyprinid herpesvirus 3 – to fight off the invaders. Rigorous testing has shown that the virus kills between 70 and 80 per cent of carp populations, but does not harm native fish species or yabbies, eels, chickens, mice, frogs, turtles or water dragons.

The government announced on Sunday that cyprinid herpesvirus 3 will be released into the Murray-Darling river system by the end of 2018.
Be prepared

“As you can imagine there is a lot of work to be done in preparation,” science minister Christopher Pyne told a press conference on Sunday. “Because suddenly, there will be literally hundreds of thousands, if not millions of tonnes, of carp that will be dead… So we have to have a clean-up programme.”

The herpes virus is fatal to carp because it attacks their kidneys, skin and gills, and makes it difficult for them to breathe, says Ken McColl of CSIRO. “The virus multiplies in the fish for about seven days, and then it takes about 24 hours from the first signs of disease until they die,” he says.


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