New black carp identification video now available

September 10, 2019

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to announce the first black carp identification video that teaches viewers how to identify black carp using grass carp as a point of comparison.  

The new educational video was created to support public reporting efforts of black carp. Commercial fishers, who encounter black carp as by-catch during normal fishing operations, have become a key source of critically important data to better understand black carp range expansion. In addition to the video, the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee created the Keep, Cool, Call handout which provides guidance on how to properly store Asian carp for formal identification and testing. Much of the information managers currently have about the location of black carp in the Mississippi River Basin came from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ black carp bounty program.

Like most species of carp, black carp are prolific eaters. What is unique about black carp is that their food of choice is mussels and snails. Many native mussel populations are already struggling to thrive due to issues like water pollution and warming water temperatures. Aquatic resource managers are therefore concerned about the additional stress heavy predation by an invasive species like black carp may have on native mussel populations. Due to their feeding habits, black carp are not typically captured by recreational anglers, but the public is still encouraged to learn how to distinguish black carp from the more prevalent grass carp.