The Speak Up campaign said the failure to address this problem contravenes a direction in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan to ‘do no harm’ to river environments.
The carp are doing harm, Speak Up says, and is frustrated that a solution has been on the table for years, but governments are doing nothing about it.
In 2016, the Federal Government announced a $15 million investment to develop the National Carp Program as a long-term biological control program for the invasive species.
It was paused because governments are concerned about the potential for mass carp kills and the temporary impact they may have.
Former Speak Up chair Shelley Scoullar said it was time to take affirmative action to halt the damage being caused by carp, saying “we have the tools and experts living amongst us, and it is time to demand the control program is implemented”.
“The science is done, so stop delaying and commit to implementing it in full,” she said.
“Carp are harming our rivers, and the increased flows and floodplain inundation under the basin plan are supporting carp proliferation.
“These ‘rabbits of the river’ decrease native species populations and also have a negative impact on the broader ecological community, resulting in a decline in species diversity. Carp increase water turbidity, which in turn decreases water quality.
“The research is clear and we have numerous river scientists who have prepared reports proving the damage being caused, yet still nothing is done.”
Mrs Scoullar said there had been previous efforts to implement the National Carp Program, but they have been “fobbed off” by politicians.
“With increasing evidence about the unintended consequences of environmental watering, including carp population explosion, the issue can no longer be ignored.
“Speak Up, with the support of various other organisations, has written to government ministers at state and federal level, imploring them to voice their concern about the manner in which advice provided by the nation’s fish experts has been ignored, and demanding the Commonwealth prioritises implementation of the National Carp Control Program.
“This needs to occur before there are any water buybacks, as storing and releasing more water will only exacerbate a serious problem.”
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