Million-dollar grant awarded for common carp removal in Lake Mattamuskeet

Published 10:28 am Monday, September 6, 2021

: Common carp removal efforts from the 1950s resulted in improved water quality to increase in SAV coverage. Courtesy USFWS

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Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission have been awarded $1 million by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Large Invasive Species grant program to remove invasive common carp from Lake Mattamuskeet.

Courtesy USFWS

The removal of common carp from impaired aquatic systems has commonly been utilized as a management tool that has repeatedly been associated with increasing water clarity, reducing nutrient concentrations and the reestablishment of submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV).

In addition, common carp removal efforts from the 1950s in Lake Mattamuskeet resulted in improved water quality to increase SAV coverage.

Submerged aquatic vegetation previously found growing in Lake Mattamuskeet. Courtesy USFWS

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This action is supported by the Lake Mattamuskeet Watershed Restoration Plan that was released in 2018 as the result of a multi-stakeholder effort consisting of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission, Hyde County, the N.C. Coastal Federation and local stakeholders.

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