$100 Bounty for Black Carp in IL, IN, and KY

If you happen to stumble across black carp on your next fishing trip, it could score you up to $1,000 a month.

Many people enjoy fishing on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Whether you are tossing a line into the river or doing a little bow fishing, you just might happen to catch a carp. Now, there are a few types of carp in our area: common carp, grass carp, and more recently, black carp.

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What are Black Carp?

According to Indiana DNR:

Black carp are native to eastern Asia and were brought to the United States during the 1970-80s as a “contaminant” of grass carp shipments, as a food fish and as a biological control for parasitic trematodes in aquaculture ponds. They have since escaped captivity and have been spreading through the Mississippi River basin.

These fish have been wreaking havoc along waterways, feeding on native mussels and disrupting aquatic ecosystems, putting native fish, recreational opportunities, and even local economies at risk.

Because black carp have become such a problem, there have been bounties put out on them in the past. Now, it looks like that bounty is back, according to Sports Illustrated.

Black Carp Bounty in Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky

Anglers can now earn $100 per invasive black carp caught, up to $1,000 per month,  through a program funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The “Keep, Cool, Call” program has been expanded to include 27 states covering the Mississippi River basin and its tributaries. The bounty is subject to funding availability. The states included are

• Alabama
• Arkansas
• Colorado
• Georgia
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Pennsylvania
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Virginia
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

How the Bounty Program Works

According to SI.com and the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee

• Catch a black carp using hook and line, bowfishing, or other legal methods
• Take clear photos of the fish’s head, mouth, and total length
• Note the location and water conditions
• Humanely kill it (possession of live invasive carp is illegal), then freeze it
• Submit your catch to your state’s resource contact

Again, you can catch up to 10 black carp a month as part of the bounty. At $100 per fish, that's $1,000 per month! You can learn more about the "Keep, Cool, Call" program by clicking here.

(H/T- SI.com)