Federation Helps Secure Much-Needed Federal Funds for Invasive Carp Control

Since 2019, the Federation has been integral to the efforts to secure needed federal funding for invasive carp control in Tennessee and the Southeast. This included securing $25M a year (in FY20 and FY21) for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to work with states in the six sub-basins of the Mississippi River Basin (MRB), including Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, and Mississippi to “tackle” the fish and remove them from infested waters through commercial fishing.

In 2021, we continued efforts to garner congressional support to address the invasive carp. On March 15, 2022, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2022. It included $25.2M for the USFWS to work with states in the MRB to remove carp. Additionally, it appropriated $650,000 in new money for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to address invasive carp, including beginning the planning and design process to block the movement of invasive carp further into the Mississippi River Basin and the Tennessee-Tombigbee waterway systems and get barriers installed where they are needed most.