Once you catch one is it legal to put it back in the water? You would be "stocking" an undesirable invasive fish back into the water. Why aren't carp treated like Tilapia?

Common carp are not an invasive species. They were introduced into the U.S. around the 1880s. The Asian carp (jumping carp) are invasive. Grass carp (White Amur) are regulated as pond weed control agents. Outside permitted waters the grass carp are considered invasive.

Catch and release of common carp is not a problem. If grass carp are caught out of a body of water where a permit for them has been issued, then they must be returned unharmed to that body of water.

Asian carp are a menace and should be destroyed.

Could not have said it any better.

+1

In Texas common carp are classified as a naturalized species, not an invasive species.

A huge plus #3.

hmmm iv always thought commons were invasive too, nice to know

Trolling again? How about reading the TPWD rule book? Or goto http://www.texasinvasives.org/

Yep trolling alright. Just wondering why I can't legally put carp in public waters yet I can catch one and put it back.

What's the (hypothetical) context of this line of inquiry?

"why I can't legally put CARP"

thats part of it you cant even properly identify the species.

yes trolling. You asked almost an identical question 2 years ago and still havent done any research except ask here. You were answered and still ask a similar question a few years later.

Common carp, only, are among the very few species named as legal to use as live bait in any state waters. Actually common carp is the least regulated species in Texas.

You can buy, sell, raise in your yard, use for bait, keep in tanks in your yard or home, carry alive in your car, common carp with no permits or papers of any sort or kind.

That however does not change the fact that common carp is the most invasive species of all freshwater fish. With the help of humankind the common carp has managed to become the most widespread freshwater species on the planet. Common carp can be found from the Arctic through the tropics. For most of the history of fish culture it was the most cultured species on Earth, recently being surpassed by the tilapia.

The common carp's destruction and degredation of aquatic habitats is well documented and the species is banned in ten states.

I bred and sold common carp for twenty years, distributing to most of the US and Canada, a lot of Asia, as well as Central and South America. Mostly in the form of high grade koi, but locally I sold a lot of culls for fish bait and weed control.

Now, when you refer to "carp," as catchall for the entire family of cyprinid fishes, many of them are banned not only from placing in public waters, but from possession at all. Common carp is only one of hundreds of species of carps.

"That however does not change the fact that common carp is the most invasive species of all freshwater fish. " This is opinion, not fact.
Largemouth Bass are considered invasive species in parts of Europe; they also have been spread by humankind.
Again, it is opinion, and determined by the pervasive views of fishermen. The whole concept of 'trash fish' is all opinion and wholly subjective.
The best carp fishing waters in Texas are the same waters that are considered great bass, catfish, crappie, and other species waters.
Certainly shallow, silty-bottomed lakes can be roiled up by the feeding habits of common carp, but they pale in the face of the destruction and degradation caused by humans. Boat wash, trash, pollutants, etc. have wrecked more waters than common carp (in my opinion) and it is to the carp's hardiness and ability to thrive in such environments that people will blame them for it.

I love the common carp as much as anybody, spent more than half my professional life in the culture of the species. It is among the most invasive of species due to its ability to thrive in the types of conditions described above, and may be the result of, as opposed to the cause of, such conditions (especially human driven habitat degradation/site disturbances). And yep, any animal taken from its home range and introduced into another area can become destructively invasive. These are not opinions, but are well documented biological facts. Not just fish, not just in water. Fire ants, European Starlings, chinese tallow, kudzu, a few non-fish examples.

Just a couple of many, many publications documenting the harmful invasive nature of the common carp. It may not be the actual worst example, but it is very near the top.

http://www.iucngisd.org/gisd/species.php?sc=60

http://dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquaticanimals/commoncarp/index.html

In many places it is too late to make changes back to the way it was and some laws have been changed to accommodate that fact. Some are still behind the times, eg. common carp are deregulated as "naturalized," and although the tilapia is as naturalized as the common carp and is here to stay, remains a banned species.

As a general rule, natural habitats not yet invaded by common carp are degraded upon such invasion. This does not say that a carp fishery may not form and become and important aspect of the habitat, just that the changes made by the carp's presence are detrimental to the native species and the ecology they are a part of.

OTOH, man made, non-natural habitats may benefit greatly from the introduction of non-native species. Almost all the aquatic habitats in Texas are man-made, non-natural habitats and as such make great places to grow fish like common carp and tilapia. In many, many cases the introduction of either or both these species to a man-made habitat is an improvement.

At least in Texas, and in the present day, the common carp plays an integral and important role across the state with respect to both the ecology and the fishery. Nothing is going to change that. We as Texans should embrace the fact, and "Carpe carpa!"