The introduction of carp to the Australian ecosystems

Carp fish (Cyprinus carpio) are an invasive large-bodied fish species originating from China which was introduced to the English as a food item in the 13th or 14th century. It was then introduced to Australia in the late 1850s deliberately by the English as an attempt to imitate the European environment. They brought in the carp as a game fish both deliberately and accidentally through the escape of ornamental or aquaculture fish. According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DOPI) In Victoria, the stocking of carp began as early as 1859, but early stocking attempts were not successful. The earliest attempts to bring carp into Australia occurred near Sydney in 1865, and in the early 1900s, fingerlings were used to establish several wild populations of carp around Sydney, including in Prospect Reservoir (where they still persist). Since then, carp have gone on to spread very successfully throughout the Murray-Darling system, including in Queensland and South Australia as well as NSW and Victoria. They have also been found in Lakes Crescent and Sorrell in Tasmania.