At a Glance

Several carp species introduced to U.S. waters in the 1970s are beginning to push out weaker, native fish in the Southeast.Silver carp can weigh up to 60 pounds, measure 3 feet and consume 40 percent of their body weight of plankton each day.

Invasive species of carp are heading towardSoutheast river systems, killing off native fish and endangering entire ecosystems.

Silver carp and three other species of carp were importedto the United States from Asia in the 1970s to help control algae growth , according to the National Park Service. They were also used to clean municipal sewage treatment ponds.

Flooding during the 1980s pushed the carp from contained catfish ponds into the Mississippi River, where they are now crowding out weaker, native species that rely on the same food source.

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Plankton-eating silver carp can weigh as much as 60 pounds and grow to a length of 3 feet. Theyhave the distinction of being the only species of carp that jumpfrom the water, sometimes as high as 10 feet into the airwhen startled. These so-called "flying carp" have been known to damage boats and injure people when they jump.

The rapidly reproducing species is considered a bully andcan consume up to 40 percent of its body weight of plankton each day,devouring the food , NPR notes.

They have been prevented from moving north into the Great Lakes system thanks to electric barriers on the IllinoisRiver, where they are particularly abundant. Further south, however, they are slowly moving into Southeast river systems, including the Tennessee, Cumberland and Yazoo rivers, which is considered one of the most aquatically biodiverse regions in the country.

With the invasion of the silver carp, followed closely by black carp that devoursnails and mussels, the number of native fish, like bass, crappie and bream,, Mother Nature Network reported.

Multiple agenciesareteaming up to try to slow the migration of the carp further south towardthe Gulf of Mexico.

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"The Southeast is a hotspot of biodiversity, so we’re trying to prevent further declines in at-risk species. It’s a big threat," said Angie Rodgers of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "There’s not a magic bullet to get rid of them. It’s just a matter of working together to slow their movement and potential impact."

One of the biggest fears is that the carp will eventually invade the Great Lakes water system and cripple the multi-billion-dollar fishing industry.

"Asian carp [pose] one of the most serious threats to our way of life in the Great Lakes region in the next 100 years," Cameron Davis, executive director of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, told NPR. “If carp get into Lake Michigan, it has the potential to completely undo the food web, much like a computer virus can wipe out a network."

While the electric barrier has prevented the migration of the carp into the Great Lakes thus far, authorities fear they could get past the barrier either from large wakes created by river barges or carried as stowaways and released into the lakes from ballast tanks.