Carp Management

Crystal Bay Obstruction Removal – Preps Way for Future Carp Seines

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - October 8, 2018 - News, Carp Management, Prior Lake

Due to a last minute schedule change, the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District has an opportunity to remove some obstructions on the bottom of Crystal Bay TODAY (Oct 8th) in anticipation of a future carp seine (removal) at this location. The District has seen carp group up in this bay multiple times over the last three years, but obstructions on the bottom have prevented any efforts to remove them. The planned obstruction removals for later today will help the District take advantage of the carps’ migratory behavior and aggregations in this bay, and will advance the carp management plan for Prior Lake.

What will be happening?

Jeff Riedemann, the commercial fisherman engaged for this project, will be running a chain along the bottom of the bay, concentrating on the southwest side where carp have grouped up in the past. When they hit a “snag”, they will be pulling the obstruction up and moving it to a different location in the bay that is further away from the potential seine area.

Will any tree branches or debris be removed from the lake?
Since there are zebra mussels (an invasive species) in Prior Lake, the debris will not be removed from the lake to minimize any risk of moving this species to uninfested waters. Leaving woody debris on the bottom of the lake is also beneficial to macroinvertebrates and fish.

Are carp going to be removed from the lake today?

At this time, we do not anticipate that any carp will be removed during the obstruction removals. However, if a large congregation of carp are present in the bay, the commercial fisherman may temporarily trap them with nets in the location to hold them there until preparations can be made for their removal.

What are the next steps for this project?

With Crystal Bay cleared of obstructions, this provides the District with another potential area to seine (remove) carp in Prior Lake. Later this fall and winter, the District will take opportunities as they arise to remove additional carp from Prior Lake. These efforts are part of a comprehensive approach to manage carp populations. More information can be found by clicking here: Integrated Pest Management Plan for Carp.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or check out our carp management website page at: https://www.plslwd.org/projects-and-programs/projects/carp-management/.

View Full Article Crystal Bay, Mud Bay, Prior Lake, Upper Prior, carp, carp seine

COLOSSAL CARP CATCH ON UPPER PRIOR LAKE

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - January 23, 2018 - News, Carp Management, Prior Lake

In a record-setting event on January 18^th, the Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District’s consultants, WSB & Associates, coordinated the efforts by Geyer Commercial Fishing, LLC to capture an astounding 35,000 pounds (17 tons) of carp with their nets below the ice of Upper Prior Lake.

A large hole was cut in the ice and carp were pulled out of the lake over three days. The carp were then loaded onto two semi-trucks outfitted with water tanks to keep them alive on their way to fish markets: one in New York and then game lakes in the southern states where carp are prized by fishermen.

Upper Prior Lake poses many challenges to commercial fishermen: natural rocks and uncharted debris at the lake bottom, steep drop-offs and varying bathymetry, curly-leaf pondweed mats, and an infestation of zebra mussels. Due to these challenges, this carp removal was the first commercially viable netting of carp ever conducted on Upper Prior. Future carp netting operations will now be met with more optimism, given the success of this harvest.

The Watershed District has a plan in place to improve the water quality of Upper Prior Lake and removing carp is the first step. According to the Department of Natural Resources’ website, “Common carp are one of the most damaging aquatic invasive species due to their wide distribution and severe impacts in shallow lakes and wetlands. Their feeding disrupts shallowly-rooted plants, muddying the water and releasing phosphorus that increases algae abundance. Native aquatic plants diminish, along with waterfowl and fish who depend upon them.”

This big carp haul represents only a portion of the total carp population in Upper Prior Lake. While approximately 3,000 carp were removed, that’s estimated to be just under 20% of the population; an estimated 17,000 carp (approximately 200,000 lbs.) may still be swimming in the lake. The largest fish captured during the netting was over three feet in length and weighed in at a whopping 42 pounds! Scientists estimate that this fish could be over 50 years old.

Radio-tags were previously implanted into 20 carp and released back into Upper Prior Lake. These carp acted as spies for the Watershed District, sending out signals that located their position in the lake. If the carp group together again later this winter and/or spring, the Watershed District will work quickly to conduct another seine in the hopes that the population will reach a manageable level.

This project is part of an integrated pest management strategy that includes tracking the movement and population of carp, targeted carp removals, identifying spawning areas and installing carp barriers. Partially funded by a MN Pollution Control Agency grant for carp management through the Clean Water Partnership, the project covers the three connected lakes—Spring, Upper Prior and Lower Prior Lakes. For more information, visit the Carp Management page on our website. For pictures of the carp seine, visit the District’s Facebook page.

View Full Article Prior Lake, Upper Prior, carp, carp removal, fishermen, fishing, invasive species, seine

Upcoming Carp Seine on Upper Prior Lake!

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - January 17, 2018 - News, Carp Management, Prior Lake

UPDATE: (Jan 22nd, 9:00 am) The fishermen returned on Saturday, finished pulling out the rest of the carp and shipped them off to market. The preliminary final total was 35,000 pounds (17 tons) of carp removed. There were roughly 3,000 carp removed which is estimated to be just under 20% of the Upper Prior carp population.

Update: (Jan 19th, 3:00 pm) The fishermen were back today and pulled out 20,000 lbs of live carp, filling up a tanker semi-truck to send off to a market in New York. We also radio-tagged two additional carp, which we released back into the lake. The fishing crew will be back out again tomorrow morning to pull out the rest of the fish. They’ll probably be there around 8 or 9:00 Saturday morning until lunchtime or so, depending on how fast things go. Once again, feel free to swing by to check out the action! Parking available at the Knotty Oar Marina.

Update: (Jan 18th, 6:00 pm) The fishermen finished pulling the net with the carp into the hole this afternoon. It looks like it will be a pretty big haul!! They’ll be back out tomorrow morning (Friday) around 9:00 am to pull out the fish, weigh and load them on the truck to ship off to market. Feel free to swing by to check out the action! Parking is available at the Knotty Oar Marina.

Update: (Jan 18th, 2 pm) The fishermen have the carp netted up and are working on pulling them in. If things go well, hopefully they’ll have to carp pulled to the take-out hole in the ice sometime around 3:00 pm or so. They’ll be separating out the native fish today and returning them to the lake. Tomorrow they will be back to take the fish out and do any sorting as necessary.

The Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District has located a group of carp on the north side of Upper Prior Lake to the west of Knotty Oar Marina. A potential winter seine effort (netting and removal of the carp) will target this group of fish. If conditions remain favorable TOMORROW (Thursday, January 18th) and the carp continue to remain aggregated at this location, a large hole will be cut into the ice to enable the removal of carp.

For safety purposes, please use caution around the hole. Orange snow fencing, yellow flagging, and/or signs will be placed around the area to alert any passerby.

Why Manage Carp?

Native to Europe and Asia, common carp outcompete the native fish in our lakes. Muddying up our waters with their bottom feeding habits, carp are stirring up the bottom of our lakes, releasing phosphorus back into the water which in turn feeds the algae, increasing the potential for algae blooms throughout the summer.

Tackling the Carp Problem:

The Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District is using an innovative method to locate and remove a significant portion of the carp in Spring and Prior Lakes. A total of 26 common carp have been surgically implanted with radio tags and released back into Spring and Prior Lakes . These tagged carp work as spies, sending signals out to a receiver device, allowing the District to track the movement of the fish throughout the three lakes and connecting channels. When the fish begin to cluster together, the District will strategically work to catch and remove the groups of carp from the lakes.

The carp location information will also help the District identify the areas the carp are using to spawn. Fish barriers will then be installed to block the carp from entering these spawning areas, ultimately reducing their overall population growth.

Lake Improvement Efforts:

Although controlling the carp on the lakes will substantially improve the water quality, it is only one of the many tools that the District is using to keep our lakes as clean and healthy as possible. This project will address the phosphorous already in the lakes, while ongoing District projects reduce the phosphorus entering the lakes each year through runoff. All these efforts work together to improve the water quality of Upper Prior Lake.

Get Involved:

Interested in helping out or coming out to see the carp removal? Residents that are interested are welcome to join the PLSLWD out on the ice as we remove the carp from the lake. There may also be some opportunities for volunteers to assist in the process, such as sorting the fish or taking photos of the event.

If you would like to receive carp updates or more information on the upcoming or future seine events, please contact the PLSLWD at kkeller-miller@plslwd.org.

For more information about the PLSLWD’s carp management program, please click here: Carp Management.

View Full Article Upper Prior, carp, carp removal, common carp, seine

Holy carp! Spring Lake seine catches 17 tons of carp

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - February 6, 2017 - News, Carp Management

A seine event on Spring Lake last week caught 2577 carp weighing 17 TONS! That’s over 34,000 pounds of carp removed from Spring Lake. Check out some awesome photos (with explanatory captions!) from the seine on Facebook page!

Upon discovering all eight of the active tagged Spring Lake fish closely grouped up on the north side of the lake, our partners at WSB & Associates were able to coordinate a seine with a commercial fisherman and his crew. Five tagged carp were ultimately caught along with the 2572 other carp, the average carp weighed 13.2 pounds. The tagged carp were returned to the lake so we can continue to track them and hopefully use them to identify their spawning grounds and future seine locations.

Carp caught during the January 2017 seine on Spring Lake.

The fisherman sold over half of the carp (20,000 lbs!) to a buyer on the East Coast for consumption (yes there’s a market for that) and hope to sell the rest to another buyer. Based on our preliminary population estimate, this seine may have removed as much as 50% of the carp in Spring Lake. Tracking of the carp will continue and future seines will be conducted when conditions allow.

This spring, temporary carp barriers will be placed on connections to wetlands or waterbodies where carp are suspected to be spawning. This comprehensive carp control effort will lead to long-term gains for lake users, Spring Lake residents, and all those living downstream.

The seine was part of a larger carp management grant project funded by a MN Pollution Control Agency grant. You can learn more about the project on the Carp Management page on our website.

View Full Article Spring Lake, carp, carp management, seine

Carpe Carp: Seizing the Carp on Upper Prior Lake

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - December 7, 2016 - News, Carp Management

Achieving good water quality is a complex problem to tackle. Not only does Upper Prior Lake receive fertilizers from runoff coming from residential lawns and farm fields, there are also nutrients stored on the bottom of the lake which have built up over time. When the lake bottom gets stirred up by bottom-feeding carp, these nutrients are released back into the water, contributing to algae blooms. The extensive algae blooms reported by residents on Upper Prior Lake this summer and fall was a result of combination of factors including carp activity, fertilizers and nutrients in runoff, and just the right weather conditions.

So, how is the District catching the carp?

Beginning in 2015, the District was awarded a MN Pollution Control Agency grant for carp management through the Clean Water Partnership. The grant covers three connected lakes—Spring, Upper Prior and Lower Prior Lakes. The project is part of an integrated pest management strategy that includes tracking the movement and population of carp, targeted carp removals, identifying spawning areas and installing carp barriers.

On November 30th, the Watershed District worked with a local commercial fisherman and WSB & Associates to complete a seining (netting) of carp. During this single event, 416 carp were captured. This was a momentous occasion, as it was the FIRST time that Upper Prior Lake has ever been commercially seined for carp.

Previously, little information was known about the lake bottom and the locations of rocks and other obstructions that could potentially tear the net. Historically, fisherman have avoided netting the lake completely for this reason, and because Prior Lake is regulated for zebra mussels. Through the grant, the District identified an area that was clear of rocks and obstructions and to complete this unprecedented carp removal on Upper Prior Lake.

A total of 150 fish were marked with small Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tags and re-released into Upper Prior Lake to help track their migration routes. Unwittingly working as spies, these marked carp will help the Watershed District determine where the carp are spawning each spring by recording their locations using receiver devices. By figuring out where their breeding grounds are, the Watershed District can cut them off from these areas, creating temporary barriers to limit their reproduction.

The remaining fish from the seine event were removed from Upper Prior Lake and taken to the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community’s Organic Recycling Facility. An astounding 1.9 TONS of carp were removed from Upper Prior Lake. The Watershed District will continue its efforts to carpe carp (Seize the carp!) this winter, as it plans to complete a winter seine (netting) on both Spring Lake and Upper Prior Lake. This spring, temporary carp barriers will be placed on connections to wetlands or waterbodies where carp are suspected to be spawning. This comprehensive carp control effort will lead to long-term gains for lake users, Upper Prior Lake residents, and all those living downstream.

Why focus on carp?

Many projects to improve the water quality of the lake have already been completed, while others are ongoing. Due to the poor water quality experienced on Upper Prior this year, the District moved quickly to ramp up efforts for this lake and completed a research project that recommended a multi-step solution. Controlling the invasive carp population is the first step and needs to happen before the next steps are implemented.

According to the Department of Natural Resources’ website, “Common carp are one of the most damaging aquatic invasive species due to their wide distribution and severe impacts in shallow lakes and wetlands. Their feeding disrupts shallowly-rooted plants, muddying the water and releases phosphorus that increases algae abundance. Native aquatic plants diminish, along with waterfowl and fish who depend upon them.”

Why not just treat Upper Prior Lake with aluminum sulfate (Alum) like was done on Spring Lake?

The preliminary population estimates of carp in Upper Prior Lake are three to four times higher than recommended. Carp can have a big impact on the effectiveness and longevity of an Alum treatment because their bottom-feeding habits can disturb the alum on the lake bottom.

Alum treatments are expensive and only a band-aid to a much larger problem providing a temporary fix. Removing the carp has the potential to greatly improve water quality by reducing the internal loading which may actually reduce the amount of alum needed to treat the lake and help the treatments last longer. EOR, the District’s Engineer, recommended two alum treatments over three years, at a cost of approximately $475,000/treatment. With such large carp numbers and the cost of alum so high, it is more cost effective to spend $5,000 per carp removal effort now and remove as many as possible before completing an alum treatment.

Has Upper Prior Lake always been impaired?

In 2002, a Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) study was completed that addressed the nutrient impairment for both Upper Prior Lake and Spring Lake. The goal of the TMDL study was to determine what needed to be done to help both of the lakes meet state water quality standards, which were listed on Minnesota’s List of Impaired Waters.

The Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District put together a comprehensive implementation plan designed to attack the water quality problem on Upper Prior Lake from all angles. The plan included potential projects such as: reducing rough fish (carp) populations; treating water upstream at the District’s Ferric Chloride Plant; applying an aluminum sulfate (alum) treatment to contain the nutrients on the lake bed; controlling curlyleaf pondweed; retrofitting best management practices (BMPs) for city street and highway projects; and providing cost-share funding for residential and agricultural landowners’ water quality projects.

What can I do to help?

Part of the plan to improve the water quality of Upper Prior Lake includes participation from local residents. From rain gardens to lakeshore restorations to rain barrels to turf management, there are many things individual residents can do to help out! See the District’s website for more information about the different cost-share programs and incentives under the “Get Involved” tab: www.plslwd.org.

For more information, visit the Carp Management page or contact the District at 952-447-4166.

View Full Article Upper Prior, carp, carp management