Carp conundrum: Yachts damaged after long-awaited event

A long-awaited event at Lake Colac was “perfect”, except for carp damage to high-performing boats. Meanwhile, the VFA has called for attention on carp control.

Carp-damaged yachts have renewed an industry call to seize the day and release a virus into Victorian rivers, lakes and wetlands.

Several high-performing boats were damaged by schools of carp during a three-day event at Lake Colac.

It prompted the Victorian Fisheries Authority to call on the federal government in a Facebook post to “make a decision”, or carpe diem, on releasing a carp herpes virus for population control.

Colac Regatta organiser Chris Parker said there were 40 yachts at the three-day event, with participants aged 18-75.

“The majority of the damage happened on Saturday morning, there were about 13 boats in the high-performance class and they achieve speeds of 20 or 30 knots,” he said.

“When they were hitting carp it caused damage to the whole structure because they were hitting the fish at substantial speed.”

Mr Parker said participants chose not to race afterwards due to potential damage.

“There were five or six boats of varying degrees of damage, a couple had substantial damage, most had minor damage that could crop up in high-performance racing anyway if you hit jellyfish or weed,” he said.

“It’s not unusual for the boats to get some damage, but the fish were certainly big enough to cause more than the average event.”

Despite the damage, Mr Parker said it had been a “perfect” event, which was unable to run for the past 18 years due to water levels.

A VFA spokesperson said they were aware of large numbers of carp at Lake Colac.

“VFA and the Victorian government are working with the federal government and leading fisheries researchers to develop a plan on how we can best reduce carp numbers,” they said.

An Agriculture Victoria spokesperson said the department understood the need to reduce carp populations.

They said the National Carp Control Plan recommended further research into the efficacy and safety of the carp virus before any further research.

Meanwhile, a Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry spokesperson said they recognised the damaging impacts of carp and increasing numbers, which showed the urgency for effective management.

“There are several carp management methods currently available that can be used to manage carp at the regional level; however, none of these mechanisms completely eradicate carp or are feasible at a broader scale,” the spokesperson said.

“[NCCP] research uncertainties included the need to be sure the virus does not kill native fish and will not cause unmanaged damage to the environment.”