TWRA warns CWD positive counties, addresses invasive carp overcrowding

HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. — The Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency has a warning for anyone planning to go hunting soon.

“The main focus for today is to talk about the hunting regulations for the positive CWD and high-risk counties,” Chronic Wasting Disease coordinator Chuck Yoest said.

There are three counties where deer have tested positive for Chronic Wasting Disease.

Five others are high-risk, since they are within ten miles of confirmed CWD case.

“What we’ve seen through our monitoring efforts in that area is there’s greater potential for CWD in the antler deer,” Yoest said.

Some of the signs of CWD in a deer include drooling, looking thin and walking in circles. But Yoest says the disease takes so long to progress, hunters won’t usually see these signs.

But it’s not just animals in the woods the TWRA is worried about. They’re also looking at how non-native fish are impacting lakes and reservoirs in West Tennessee.

Silver carp and big head carp are becoming a serious problem is Tennessee waterways.

“The fish are feeding on plankton, real small stuff, so they’re eating the primary productivity of the lake that everything depends on in that cycle,” Chief of Fisheries Frank Fiss said.

They are also overcrowding the lakes and forcing out native fish, but they’re not just causing an issue underwater.

“They’ll actually jump out of the water, in areas where they are really abundant, and if you’re going along in your boat, the fish will jump into your boat,” Fiss said.

So the TWRA is now offering an incentive to commercial fisherman to catch the fish.

“People participating in that program have already harvested over 700,000 pounds of silver carp and big head carp,” Fiss said.

TWRA officials will also be installing barriers that emit light, sound and bubbles underwater in hopes of keeping the carp from swimming through the locks on Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley.