If you're gonna kill carp..

[itchmesir]

maj330 - I was going to point to a few carp control efforts that were deemed successful, but these are pretty recent and haven't withstood the test of time. Examples include Lake Wingra, and Lakes Riley and Susan.

There have been some successes with inducing a "population crash" via intensive removal, coupled with denying access by new immigrants and access to spawning areas that have pushed carp populations to lower levels. Lake Winona is one success story that has endured nearly 40 years now. A "total" kill combined with access barriers knocked down carp levels and they remain low today. But this can't be accomplished on open systems.

It will be interesting to keep track of the Lakes Riley and Susan studies being done by Sorenson Labs. We'll take every success story we can get.

yup 2006 reports shows the DNR netting only 1 common carp in their survey.. though there is a little population in some areas of the lake as you will see them rocket out of the water in the hotter days of summer

[Crawlerman]

As people pointed out, it is illegal to wantonly kill fish by leaving them on the shore to rot and die. Not only does this make a big stinky mess for other patrons and the city/county/what have you to put up with and clean up after, but a common misconception is that all carp are "bad". Quite the contrary, common carp, the gold kind help control plant overgrowth in many lakes in the state. They co-incide with other fish in a lake and fill their own niche.

An inbalance of ANY species of fish in a lake can cause problems, and this is not limited to, and is espically true with game fish. Too many Northerns and Muskies in a lake will cause a lake that is full of small northerns and muskies that eat all other fish, including themselves, and never get to any real size. The end result is a lake full of nothing but hammerhandles.

Another common occurence is an overpoplulation of sunfish or bullheads. They become stunted in growth and take up a large bio mass of the lakes population and become too numerous for the few preadator fish in the lake to control, substituting their massive numbers for Biomass that could otherwise be filled with bass, pike, walleyes what have you.

If you found a lake that was overun with pike or muskies and decided it was a good idea to throw a few small ones up on the shore and brag about it, you'd probably get shot at.

Remeber the problem with the term "Rough Fish" or "Garbage fish" is that designation can change depending on what decade you are in and area of the world you live in. If you were to go over to the UK and state how much garbage fish Carp are for example, and brag about throwing them onto the shore and watching them die, you better be wearing a bulletproof vest.

Only a few Decades ago, Catfish were considered "Trash fish that eat garbage that need to be killed..." and now they are one of the fastest growing sportfish in the US. They are now regulated, but at one time it wasn't allways so.

At one time, Northern Pike were considered a nussiance and a "Monster" because they would eat more "important" fish like Trout and Walleye. We are talking no more then 50-60 years on Northerns and Muskies being considered Evil walleye and trout killers that should be removed from the lake at all costs.

What makes matters worse is there is one species of carp where the DNR have stated it IS illegal to return the fish to the water. And that is the Asian Carp AKA Silver Carp or Grass Carp. The short list of invasive species is short for a reason. This particular species multiplies faster then the common carp and becomes a nusiance to boaters in the form of schools measuring in the thousands. These fish do deplete a lakes' natural biosphere quickly. Not the case with their more common golden realitives.

So because of this, Carp haters have another barrel to stand on. Because the DNR tells you to kill one species of fish, you need to kill all the other fish of the same family. A very good example of this mentality would be the Ruffe. The Ruffe is a small invasive Perch that has a diet consisting solely on the eggs of other fish. It is illegal to return this particular perch to the water. Guess what other fish is a member of the Perch family? Walleyes.

So because Ruffes and Walleyes are related, and Ruffes are invasive; this means we should go and kill off the Walleyes as well, correct?

Just remeber, Common Carp are one of the biggest sport-fish in the World. Just because people in the US think they are "trash fish" doesn't mean that view is shared with most of Europe. I remeber reading a story about a carp in a pay pond that was found dead in the UK and there was a big investigation because the local DNR believed foul play was involved and the fish did not die of natural causes. There was like a 5000 euro fine if an angler was caught killing a carp out of one of these said ponds. It is all strictly catch and release. They are more passionate and protective of carp as a sportfish in the UK then we are of Bass and Walleye in the US. "Sport fish" is a word all in the eye of the beholder.

[Carp-fisher]

After a century of modern fish management, we've come to the realization that the carp is here to stay and no amount of money or effort is going to make a significant impact on their abundance.

I don't think that is accurate. Dr. Peter Sorenson at the U of M is working on a study to reduce carp abundance in area lakes.

[psepuncher]

makes me wonder why NDN's used fish to fertilize the soil

before planting crops...bah what did they know.

sufferin succotash must have been hard to make without a fish in the hole to start with.

[pureinsanity]

I saw piles and piles of carp left on the road when the MN river flooded near jordan. If I would have saw someone doing it I would have called them in. However, I just drove by to see the piles there. I saw the same vehicle there almost daily. Its sad that people just kill them and leave them in piles. Put them to use. Throw them back in the water at least..

The piles became feeding grounds for a variety of wild life in the area which in turn became road kill. That made a nother pile of stinky rotting flesh...

[Tom7227]

"Back to School" Workshop - All About Carp - September 18, 2010

The Rice Creek Watershed District will be hosting a public seminar on common carp, and their affect on wildlife and water quality. The invasive common carp has been in Minnesota Lakes since around 1900, and have spread across the state through rivers, lakes, and ponds. Carp have drastically altered the ecosystems they inhabit, negatively impacting waterfowl habitat, fisheries, and water quality.

We have enlisted the help of two experts in the field of carp affects on water quality and waterfowl to present at the seminar. Dr. Peter Sorensen (U of M) and Ann Geisen (MN DNR) will teach us about carp history, biology, and their impacts on waterfowl and water quality. Please join us for this very interesting seminar!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

9:00 - 11:30 am

Mounds View High School Auditorium

1900 Lake Valentine Road

Arden Hills, MN 55112

[mainbutter]

I don't think that is accurate. Dr. Peter Sorenson at the U of M is working on a study to reduce carp abundance in area lakes.

Just because a problem is being worked on doesn't mean it is solvable.

Don't forget the millions of dollars spent by the government to pay physicists to study star trek-style teleportation.