Teacher turns invasive carp into food for injured birds of prey

In a flea market parking lot near the Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge, Hank Gevedon stood on a trailer, holding a 40-pound carp like a hunter lifting his prized trophy. The Somerset High School teacher showed off the fish to several dozen volunteers and students from his engineering class.

“Now, that’s a good size silver [carp],” Gevedon told the crowd. “Oh my, guys we’ve been getting ready for this. Don’t worry, I’ve got 1,000 pounds of fish. There is fish for everybody to cut today.”

Gevedon’s trailer has two old refrigerators and a freezer full of carp just caught at a fishing tournament at Kentucky Lake, which straddles the border between Tennessee and Kentucky.

He and his students set up several tables under a tent to filet, trim and place the carp in freezer bags. The meat will feed injured birds of prey from the refuge. Gevedon calls the event a “carp rodeo.”

“Two months ago this was a dream. A month ago we got our first load of fish,” he said. “Any day you get to fish, and then take that fish and freeze it and know that it’s going to feed an eagle or an owl or a hawk in rehab, man, that’s a good feeling.”

Several kinds of carp are considered invasive in Kentucky and other states. In the 1970s, carp were brought from Asia to control algal blooms at aquatic farms and water treatment plants, but floods moved them into rivers and lakes.

Carp spread quickly and can dominate waterways by feeding on plant life that other fish depend on. Invasive species specialists at the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife say carp pose a threat not only to other fish, but also to people on boats. Carp weighing 40-80 pounds can jump out of the water and collide with boaters.

Gevedon saw the need to reduce the number of carp and, at the same time, use them to feed injured birds of prey at the nearby refuge.

“We’re taking an invasive species, processing it and feeding it to a possibly endangered species, and that’s just a lot of fun,” he said.

The Lake Cumberland Wildlife Refuge needs thousands of pounds of food for its injured birds. Executive Director Kimmi Sparkman said the nonprofit has a tight budget, and they appreciate the donation of fish meat.

“Bald eagles especially love fish,” Sparkman said. “They are fishermen at heart. If you could give them a rabbit or a fish, most days they’ll choose the fish. Hank’s program is perfect for us, because it allows us to give these birds what they want, what they desire.”

Sparkman said the initiative is a win-win situation that comes with many benefits beyond providing meals for the birds. It reduces costs for the refuge, removes an invasive species from the wild and the leftover parts are used by organic farmers for compost.

“This is just wonderful,” she said. “What we do gets hard. There are days where you’ve worked on an animal for a long time, and despite best efforts, it just doesn’t make it. And those are hard days. But days like this where everyone chips in and becomes a part of what we’re doing, it’s just phenomenal. It really lifts my heart, lifts my spirits and encourages me to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Rylan Bradley, one of Gevedon’s students, said he enjoys the experience of turning fish into food for injured birds. The engineering class is working on developing a machine that separates the bones of a carp from the meat.

“It’s very different,” Bradley said. “It’s fun. It’s hands on. We’re using our brain a lot to think about ways to automate the process.”

Gevedon was thankful for his students’ work and said he has plans for another “carp rodeo” in spring.

“All winter long, raptors in rehab — owls and hawks and eagles — are going to eat good fish because we’re putting it together,” he said.

This story was produced by the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, a collaboration between West Virginia Public Broadcasting, WPLN and WUOT in Tennessee, LPM, WEKU, WKMS and WKU Public Radio in Kentucky and NPR.

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