Drafts of an environmental assessment and an economic analysis related to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to list the black carp as an injurious species became available for public comment today.
The draft economic analysis estimates the 10-year cost for prohibiting interstate transport of live black carp, gametes and eggs at approximately $356,000. Potentially affected aquaculture industries include catfish, baitfish and hybrid striped bass, which had combined gross sales of $561 million in 2000. The cost figure was derived as the impact to aquaculture operations that use black carp but lack an in-state source for the fish.
The Service initially published the black carp listing proposal on July 30, 2002. The Federal Register notice published today reopens the public comment period for 60 days. The Service is asking for data and substantive public comments, directed specifically to the content of the draft documents and an alternative to the proposed rule that is under consideration.
Both draft documents are available from the Chief, Division of Environmental Quality, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 4401 N. Fairfax Drive, Mail Stop 322, Arlington, VA 22203, Fax, 703-358-1800. Both documents are also available at http://www.contaminants.fws.gov/Issues/InvasiveSpecies.cfm See the Federal Register notice for details on how to deliver comments and the deadline to submit comments.
Black carp, also known as snail carp, Chinese black carp, black amur, Chinese roach and black Chinese roach, is a freshwater fish that inhabits lakes and lower reaches of rivers in the wild. The black carp, native to parts of China, Russia and Vietnam, can reach 1.5 meters in length, weigh up to 70 kilograms and live to at least 15 years. A single female can produce an average of one to three million eggs each year. Black carp feed on zooplankton and fingerlings when small. An adult black carp has powerful teeth and jaws that are able to crush the shells of large mollusks. Concerns about the escape of the fish and its impact on imperiled native mussels and snails prompted evaluation of the black carp as an injurious species.
Black carp first came to the U.S. in the early 1970s in a shipment of imported grass carp headed for a private fish farm in Arkansas. More recently, importation and production of black carp increased for use as a food fish and as a biological control agent to combat two parasites, the yellow grub (Clinostomum spp.) and Bolbophorus spp. in aquaculture farms.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 545 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.


