Damage to Murray-Darling rivers and their tributaries from European carp needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency, according to a number of community groups.

They have joined forces to highlight the carp issue and encourage government action.

The initiative is being led by the Speak Up Campaign, with support from numerous other organisations.

A letter has been sent to state and federal politicians, with positive responses to date, suggesting many are aware of the issue and acknowledge the need for action.

Speak Up chair Shelley Scoullar said the European carp scourge is a complex issue that has been “swept under the carpet for too long”.

“If politicians are serious about ensuring the $13 billion of taxpayer funds being spent on the Basin Plan are not wasted, taking affirmative action to reduce carp numbers must be a priority,” Mrs Scoullar said.

“We cannot keep ignoring it because this will only lead to increased proliferation of European carp and make it even more difficult to fix.”

In the letter, politicians have been told that uncontrolled carp populations undermine ecological restoration, threaten native fish recovery, and jeopardise the productivity of our river systems.

“This, in turn, affects food affordability, regional economies, and the nation’s agricultural contribution to Gross Domestic Product,” the letter states.

“Unfortunately, as we roll out the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, its environmental watering targets are providing ideal conditions for European carp breeding.

“Unless carp management is prioritised, continued implementation of Basin Plan water recovery and floodplain inundation risks delivering marginal or even negative outcomes for river health and native fish.”

The groups have suggested a four-point plan as a stepping stone to addressing the problem, as follows:

1. Revise current management practices that inadvertently fuel carp proliferation.

2. Ensure targeted carp control measures are integrated into Basin Plan implementation.

3. Require site-specific carp risk assessments and management plans for floodplain watering projects.

4. Collaborate with scientists and draw on local knowledge, enabling informed decisions about how regulators and infrastructure are used for future projects.

“Protecting our rivers from carp is not optional,” the groups have said.

“It is essential to securing the ecological integrity of the Murray-Darling Basin, the recovery of native fish, and the prosperity of the communities and industries that depend on these waters.”

Mrs Scoullar said the lack of government action to address European carp numbers was “of immense concern”, adding the 2025 Sustainable Rivers Audit has highlighted significant and ongoing problems.

This includes a fish health rating of ‘very poor to poor’ in 20 of 23 basin valleys, with carp, rather than low environmental water availability, a major contributing factor.

Additionally, carp account for more than half of total fish biomass, maintaining a substantial ecological footprint in many catchments, and according to information from the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder carp make up 90 per cent of fish biomass in some areas of the Basin.

“This is not an issue we can continue to ignore,” Mrs Scoullar said.

“Those who live close to the Basin’s waterways constantly see the river devastation caused by European carp and are frustrated when there is so much talk about environmental outcomes, and billions of dollars spent to achieve them, but nothing is done to address a key contributor to environmental damage.

“We implore governments and their agencies to start taking the issue seriously.”

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Thursday, 21st October 2027

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