Kingston tackles the Silver Carp Issue

by Hugh Willett

The Kingston City Council on Tuesday unanimously passed a resolution in support of efforts to stop the migration of Silver Carp toward Watts Bar Lake.

“This is something simple that we can do to help,” said Councilwoman Stephanie Wright.

Council was responding to a recent workshop by fisheries biologist Timothy Joseph who urged city officials to take action to prevent the migration of Silver Carp into the Watts Bar ecosystem.

The silver carp is an invasive species that poses a danger to boaters and the ecosystem, he said.

The carp, which are known to jump into the air at the sound of an approaching boat, will also outcompete other native game fish.

Silver carp have had a devastating impact on the Mississippi and Ohio River watersheds where they have caused problems for boaters and damaged opportunities for sport fishing in places such as “The Land Between the Lakes”, he said.

Silver Carp may have invaded the Tennessee as far upriver as Guntersville Lake in Alabama.

It is expected that they will continue to migrate past Nickajack Lake, into Watts Bar and on to Fort Loudoun and Tellico Lakes, he said.

Read more at the Roane County News