The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Services has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agencies are looking for invasive species in a central Kentucky lake.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife and Kentucky Fish and Wildlife collected 330 eDNA samples from three sites at Taylorsville Lake in October. eDNA is also referred to as environmental DNA. It typically enters a body of water through the shedding of cells and secretions of mucus and waste directly from a living organism.
Sampling for eDNA consists of collecting and analyzing water samples for the presence of DNA from the organism of interest. In this case, the agencies are looking for the presence of invasive bighead and silver carp.
Of the 330 water samples collected in 2024 from the lake, six tested positive for invasive carp genetic material. However, officials say there is no physical evidence of the invasive carp species in the lake.
Taylorsville Lake was selected because it is an important fisheries resource located within the Salt River watershed, a tributary to the Ohio River. The area of the Ohio River where the Salt River enters is considered an invasive carp “establishment front.”
The invasive fish often out compete the local fish and can heavily disrupt the local ecosystems.
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