Recreational fisherman Grant Bidgood reeled in a 6.6 kilogram European Carp from the Myall River in Bulahdelah last weekend.

The European Carp has long been declared by the State Government as a noxious fish species.

According to the Department of Primary Industries (DPI), carp are well known as pests due to their destructive feeding habits that uproot aquatic vegetation and muddy the water.

“The bottom-feeding behaviour of carp has led to them being widely blamed for environmental problems such as increased turbidity, algal blooms, damage to riverbanks and loss of aquatic vegetation,” they say.

“Carp are also thought to be indirectly responsible for declines in native fish populations.”

Mr Bidgood said as far as he is aware, this is the first European Carp caught in the river.

“The catch is unusual because it’s the first and only one found in the area, there’s been a few Koi Carp found in the past but no European Carp,” he said.

“If we just left it and it breeds, it will completely destroy the ecosystem.”

Mr Bidgood encourages all members of the public to report any carp catches to the DPI.

“It is really important that we find out how many more there are because we don’t want the river destroyed,” he said.

Mr Bidgood told News Of The Area he was fishing upstream from the Bulahdelah Bridge in the Mid North Coast Freshwater Titles when he snagged the European Carp on a 4lb line.

By Daniel SAHYOUN