A national shortage of grass carp means Lake Norman will not be receiving any new fish this year, but experts don’t think that will cause a setback in the fight against hydrilla.
At least 1,200 sterile grass carp are usually stocked in the lake each year to eat hydrilla, an invasive aquatic weed that can interfere with boating, swimming and fishing. However, fewer of the non-reproducing fish are available this year in the U.S., and only three smaller lakes in North Carolina will be receiving any.
“The major reason (for the shortage) is the huge number of fish stockings in Florida, Texas and South Carolina, as well as the warm winter, which affected the availability of the 12-inch grass carp from the fish farms,” said Bob Elliot, assistant director of the Lake Norman Marine Commission and head of its Hydrilla Committee.
Ken Manuel, a Duke Energy senior scientist, said skipping a year of grass carp stocking in Lake Norman should not significantly impact the battle against hydrilla, which is the primary food of grass carp.
“We have several hundred fish remaining from previous stocks and the hydrilla is still under control,” said Manuel. “With the amount of residual fish that we have, it will not have a serious impact. As long as we can stock the lake next year, we should be okay.”
Elliot said that he knows some people will wonder why they don’t just skip every other year if they know there is enough fish.
“If we stop putting the fish in as we have been doing, the problem will absolutely start again,” he said. “We need to stock again next year for sure.”
Unfortunately, he added, the price of the grass carp has risen, so it will be more expensive to stock them.
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“The cost has risen from an average of $6 per fish to $8 to $10 per fish,” Elliot said. “Each fish must be individually treated to become sterile, so they handle each one.”
Grass carp have proven to be the best controllers of hydrilla, which is usually spread to new lakes and rivers by boats, trailers or livewells -- which have fragments of the plant clinging to them. Other lakes in North Carolina have tried aquatic herbicides with less success than the carp.
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