A Ministerial Taskforce was established to oversee development of the NCCP to maximise the impact of CyHV-3 on carp populations while minimising impacts to industry, communities and the environment.
The CHV-3 virus will potentially affect carp at an unprecedented geographic scale – hence a fundamental understanding of the abundance and biomass (total weight of carp in a given area) of carp within representative habitats throughout eastern Australia is required. This is a priority for the NCCP to: (i) safely plan the virus release, (ii) efficiently allocate local and regional clean-up resources, and (iii) identify/manage potential ecological impacts (e.g. water quality).
To meet this need, research is required to provide data on the abundance and biomass of carp within various habitats they occupy (i.e. rivers, lakes, billabongs, estuaries) and at appropriate geographic scales (local, river reach, river-basin, inter-basin). Additionally, local carp densities can vary significantly through time, largely depending on climatic conditions and river flows and hence these factors require investigation to ensure the release of the virus is a success.
Ecological monitoring is also important to benchmark the condition of macrophyte, macroinvertebrate and fish communities, as well as water quality prior to possible release of the carp virus within a representative sub-set of catchments. There is significant investment leveraging potential from existing projects which will be important in demonstrating that the virus has contributed to demonstrable environmental change.
The carp biomass estimation project is relevant to a broad range of stakeholders, including industries, communities, environmental managers (e.g. CMAs, NRM Boards and LLSs groups) because detailed clean-up and risk management plans rely on robust estimates of carp abundance. If the CyHV-3 program is to reach its goal of reducing carp numbers and improving Australia’s aquatic ecosystems, the carp biomass project represents an integral component of this program.