Incentive program sees removal of 25 million invasive fish from Tennessee waterways

More than 25 million pounds of invasive carp have been removed as part of a million-dollar incentive program in Tennessee. The most recent count comes in June as commercial fishermen worked to remove carp from reservoirs at Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley, Cheatham Lake, Old Hickory Lake, and Pickwick Lake as well as the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. The agency funded a $75,000 grant in 2017 to the Paris Henry County Industrial Committee to help fund a commercial fishing industry to help with carp removal. The program has since added $900,000 in grants for commercial fishing incentives and wholesale fish dealing as part of the Asian Carp Harvest Incentive Program. The Tennessee Fish and Wildlife Commission said the immediate concern from carp is the safety of boaters as silver carp are known to jump and injure boaters in a moving boat. The fish also change the ecosystem of waterways and deplete resources for natural fish species.