Lake Mattamuskeet is the largest naturally-formed lake in North Carolina. [file photo]
Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge and the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission have been awarded $1 million dollars by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Large Invasive Species grant program to remove invasive common carp from Lake Mattamuskeet.
The removal of common carp from impaired aquatic systems have 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.
Submerged aquatic vegetation previously found growing in Lake Mattamuskeet. [courtesy USFWS]In addition, common carp removal efforts from the 1950s in Lake Mattamuskeet resulted in improved water quality to increase vegetation coverage.
Common carp removal efforts from the 1950s resulted in improved water quality to increase in SAV coverage. [courtesy USFWS]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.
Adaptive pest management techniques, including exclusion barriers and mass removal, will be applied to improve water quality. [courtesy USFWS]
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