The federal government has declared a $15 million war on the imported fish described as one of the country's most devastating pests.
"We are going to visit Carpegeddon on the great pest of the River Murray, the European carp," South Australian cabinet minister Christopher Pyne told reporters at Murray Bridge.
The money will be spent implementing the national carp control plan, which will include introducing a herpes virus into waterways from the end of 2018 to wipe out 95 per cent of the carp population over the next 30 years.
Mr Pyne said the carp was one of the worst pests introduced into Australia, ranking alongside the cane toad, rabbits and donkeys.
Carp is believed to make up 80 per cent of the fish biomass of the Murray Darling Basin and its economic impact is estimated to be around $500 million a year, mostly in regional Australia.
"They stir up all the mud. They drive other fish out. They can't seem to live in harmony with other fish stocks and our native fish have been no competition for the European carp," Mr Pyne said.
The CSIRO and the Invasive Animals Co-operative Research Centre have tested carp herpesvirus and determined it won't cause disease in any other species of fish, other animals or humans.
But it can't be introduced into the waterways until 2018.
"There is a lot of work to be done in preparation for the outcome, because, suddenly, there will be, literally, hundreds of thousands, if not millions of tonnes of carp that will be dead in the River Murray," he said.
"So we have to have a clean-up program. We need a community consultation program."
The federal government will work with the states to introduce legislative changes to administer the herpes virus.
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