The Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District continued its carp removal efforts with the removal of 7,500 pounds of the invasive species from Spring Lake on Feb. 18 and an additional 3,000 pounds from Upper Prior Lake on Feb. 23.
The removals are carried out by the PLSLWD, consulting company WSB & Associates and area commercial fishermen. The Spring Lake seine, or the netting and removal of carp, was conducted on the northwest corner of the lake near Sailer’s Greenhouse, which Water Resources Technician Jeff Anderson said went well.
“We’re happy, the fishermen were fairly happy and it really helps with moving towards our goal,” Anderson said. That goal being to lower the population of the species in water bodies to improve the overall water quality.
The second carp removal event on Upper Prior Lake this season resulted in the netting of over 200 fish, according to a PLSLWD press release. With a special permit from the DNR, gillnets, nets made of monofilament making them hard for fish to see, were used to remove the group of carp congregating near the Knotty Oar Marina. A seine was conducted in that area in late January and resulted in the removal of 2,300 pounds of carp.
Anderson said population estimates reveal that there are presently more carp in Spring Lake than in Upper Prior.
Using methods like electrofishing surveys, looking for spawning areas and through public input, the watershed tracks the carp populations, but has never found a concerning amount of carp in Lower Prior Lake. Carp tagged by the district have also never been located in that body of water and just why that is isn’t exactly known, Anderson said.
The watershed doesn’t have any future removal events planned, but they track the carp population in the lakes multiple days a week so seines can be conducted quickly when fish are in the right areas for an event.
“These carp removals will help continue improving water quality in Upper Prior and Spring Lake. They will mutually benefit the other work that we have done on these lakes, with the alum treatments, the stormwater best management practices that we’ve helped fund and overall health and wellness of the shorelines and the restoration projects that we’ve worked on,” Anderson said. “It’s a holistic approach and this is just one of those factors that we’re able to complete and really target this time of year.”
For more information on the PLSWD’s carp management efforts visit plslwd.org.
