Murray-Darling Carp Action Summit
From Awareness to Action
In April 2026, eighty delegates from across the Murray-Darling Basin attended the Murray-Darling Basin Carp Action Summit. The Summit was co-hosted by the Victorian Fisheries Authority and the Australian River Restoration Centre to drive meaningful, coordinated action on European carp, one of Australia’s most significant aquatic environmental challenges. The Summit brought together people representing 41 community, farming, fishing, processing, research, and natural resource organisations and community leaders from far and wide.
For more than fifty years, carp have degraded our river ecosystems, water quality, native fisheries, impacted communities, agriculture, and cultural values. While there has been a focus on carp biocontrol research for at least 20 years culminating in the National Carp Control Plan, there are still no federal carp control programs in place and no clear timelines for a decision on carp biocontrol. The Summit was convened to reflect community concerns about carp and to address what has become a national ecological disaster.
Formation of a Carp Action Alliance
A key outcome of the Summit was a commitment by delegates to support the establishment of a Carp Action Alliance. The VFA is currently consulting on the terms of reference from the alliance, membership, and funding arrangements. We expect to make an announcement on this initiative soon.
Learn more about the summit outcomes and next steps in the communique here:
Presentation Slides
View the slides from presenters at the Murray-Darling Carp Action Summit:
- Travis Dowling, Victorian Fisheries Authority - The carp virus opportunity
- Helen Dalton MP - Carp and broader water reform
- A/Professor Ivor Stuart, Charles Sturt University - A synopsis of what carp are doing to our waterways, fish and why we need action
- Cassie Price, OzFish - Fish habitat: River health advocacy and response to the carp plague
- Steve Starling - Rabbits of the river, or worse
- Anthony McGrath, VRFish - Carp control is a key recreational fisher issue
- Warwick Ragg, National Farmers Federation - The fifty-year carp river health catastrophe we must deal with
- Toby Piddocke, Fisheries Research and Development Corporation - National Carp Control Plan: Key findings from Australia’s largest biocontrol investigation
- Darren Willis, Murraylands & Riverland Landscape Board - South Australia: Wetland solutions for carp in the Murraylands and Riverland
- Trevor Clark, Yanco Creek and Tributaries Advisory Council Inc. - NSW Irrigators: Farmers investing in carp control
- Reece Pianta, Invasive Species Council - Invasive species management: Where is carp control in the
national invasive species framework - Tim Crane, Oceans2Earth - Processing Carp: Composting and hydrolysate opportunities
- Anthony Forster, VFA - Carpe Diem: From awareness to action