The National Carp Control Plan (NCCP) will be delivered over a large geographic area in waterways used by, among others, thousands of farmers, fishers, tourists, boaters and nearby residents. Achieving support for the recommendations included in the NCCP requires assessing potential impacts of carp control on different groups, and ensuring key stakeholders are able to access, understand and have discussions about the science being used to inform the development of recommendations for the Plan. Through completing a program of assessment of socio-economic impacts, and enabling constructive engagement with stakeholders in NCCP communication and engagement actions, this project will actively inform the design of both the communication and engagement used as part of developing the Plan, and the ultimate recommendations to government included in the Plan. This pro-active approach can enable design of a plan for carp control that incorporates actions that reduce potential for negative impacts and increase community trust in the process.

FRDC is leading a National Carp Control Plan (NCCP) to ensure maximum success of the CyHV-3 virus. The objective of the present proposal is to inform resource allocation for CyHV-3 release planning, clean-up and management of potential ecological impacts, and provide a robust estimate of carp abundance and biomass in a broad range of aquatic habitats, reaches and river basins in eastern Australia. As part of this program it is underrating an assessment of Carp biomasses (NCCP: Preparing for carp herpesvirus: a carp biomass estimate for eastern Australia) based on data collected at various points in time.

Carp are highly fecund and adaptable and therefore their populations are extremely dynamic. This means that any static population estimate at any particular point in time can quickly change, and therefore must be used cautiously. It also means that overall populations can vary widely: data from river surveys in the mid-Murray (relatively stable habitats) varied by about 200% pre-, during and post drought. Less stable habitats would be likely to have higher levels of population variability. By their very nature, population assessments can only be undertaken at individual sites at particular points in time and there is the need for adjustments to this data to provide more accurate estimates of populations for any other point in time.
Carp population dynamics are driven by very large recruitment events and there are three factors that influence recruitment events:
1. flows (hydrology); and
2. access to habitats (often also dictated by flows)
3. existing population structure
Carp populations are particularly responsive to conditions conducive to recruitment, especially when there are successive events that cumulatively drive populations. Therefore, these aspects need to be taken into account to guide management and allow predictions to be made as to actions and likely outcomes. The carp biomass estimate currently being undertaken will give a point-in-time estimate for July 2018. This will need to be adjusted for any release date beyond 2018. Data collected should allow for examination of the existing population structure, which can then be added into the model for future predictions.

The project will support the development of a structured ans systematic approach the ongoing development of the NCCP Operations Strategy. IN so doing it will inform the development of tactical and strategic decisions underpinning the success of the plan, enhance governance for the NCCP roll out, development documentation to support operational efficiency and effectiveness whilst ensuring WHS for all personnel, staff and the community, enhance the relevance of systems needed to underpin the NCCP operations strategy and realise the benefits of rehearsals and simulations.