Triploid Grass Carp

The grass carp, also known as the white amur, is a vegetarian fish native to the Amur River in Asia. Because this fish feeds on aquatic plants, it can be used as a biological tool to control nuisance aquatic plant growth.

In some situations, sterile grass carp may be permitted for introduction into Washington waters. Permits are most readily obtained if the lake or pond is privately owned, has no inlet or outlet, and is fairly small. The objective of using grass carp to control aquatic plant growth is to end up with a lake that has about 20 to 40 percent plant cover, not a lake devoid of plants. In practice in Washington, grass carp often fail to control the plants or all the submersed plants are eliminated from the waterbody.

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife determines the appropriate stocking rate for each waterbody when they issue the grass carp stocking permit. Stocking rates for Washington lakes generally range from 9 up-to 25 eight- to eleven-inch fish per vegetated acre. This number will depend on the amount and type of plants in the lake as well as spring and summer water temperatures. However, Fish and Wildlife generally err on the side of stocking the least amount of grass carp as possible. To prevent stocked grass carp from migrating out of the lake and into streams and rivers, all inlets and outlets to the pond or lake must be screened. For this reason, residents on waterbodies that support a salmon or steelhead run are rarely allowed to stock grass carp into these systems.

Once grass carp are stocked in a lake, it may take from two to five years for them to control nuisance plants. Survival rates of the fish will vary depending on factors like presence of otters, birds of prey, or fish disease. A lake will probably need restocking about every ten years.

Grass carp imported into Washington must be tested to ensure that they are sterile. Because Washington does not allow fertile fish within the state, all grass carp are imported into Washington from out of state locations. Most grass carp farms are located in the southern United States where warmer weather allows for fast fish growth rates. Large shipments are transported in special trucks and small shipments arrive via air. The photograph shows the truck used to transport grass carp for Chambers Lake in Thurston County.

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