District Catches Best Program Award for Carp Management

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - December 29, 2020 - News

The District is honored to have been awarded the Program of the Year at the 2020 Minnesota Association of Watershed Districts’ (MAWD) annual conference earlier this month!

The carp certainly kept staff very busy in 2020. From tagging and tracking carp to carp seining and new removal techniques, it’s been a busy year. Check out some of the carp management and see some photos of work the District has done in 2020 in this cool StoryMap here.

Shown above are District and WSB staff (our carp consultant) Mary Newman (WSB), Maggie Karschnia (PLSLWD), Tony Havranek (WSB), Jordan Wein (WSB) and Jeff Anderson (PLSLWD) at a carp seine in 2020.

Since 2015, the District has undertaken a comprehensive effort to reduce common carp in Prior Lake and Spring Lake, creating and implementing an Integrated Pest Management Plan (IPM) to reduce internal phosphorus loading in the lakes which are impaired for excess nutrients including phosphorus.

Besides using traditional techniques of estimating carp biomass and carp seines, the District developed its own traps; herded carp underwater to trapping locations; trained citizens to locate and bait carp; instituted innovative netting techniques and used underwater and stationary cameras to locate carp and improve haul success.

“This is an iterative process, but so far carp removal efforts have resulted in substantial carp biomass removal and progress has been made on meeting the goals,” said Maggie Karschnia, Water Resources Project Manager.

To watch a video of a carp seining event, learn more about the methods used to manage carp, or to find out how residents and lake enthusiasts can help, check out the District’s carp management page here and the Carp Volunteer page here.

View Full Article Best Program, MAWD, award, carp management

2020 Adventures in Carp

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - October 16, 2020 - News, Carp Management, Prior Lake, Spring Lake, Where are the carp?

2020 Carp Management:

The carp have kept the District very busy in 2020! Check out this StoryMap to see what all we’ve been doing. More information on the District’s common carp management program visit the Carp Management page on our website.

How do we track the carp?

As with many living creatures, carp move around throughout the year. Where do they go and how do we find them? Check out our Journey of a Carp StoryMap!

View Full Article 2020, carp, carp locations, carp management, carp tracking, common carp

Seeking New Carp Volunteers

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - June 24, 2020 - News, Carp Management, Prior Lake, Spring Lake

We are looking for volunteers to assist with several projects:

Training the Carp: Help train the carp with bait and sound.
Baited Box Traps: Check and bait box traps for the carp.
Carp espionage: Keep an eye on a specific location and report carp sightings.
Carp Tracking: Use the Yagi antennae to track the locations of tagged carp in the lake.

Training is provided and no experience is necessary. Materials are supplied.

For more information, visit the carp volunteer page and click on each project for more information.

To volunteer: fill out the sign-up form here.

View Full Article carp, carp baiting, carp management, carp tracking, carp volunteers, volunteer, volunteering

Carp Management Program Updates: April 6

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - April 6, 2020 - News, Carp Management

Things have been busy lately with the District’s carp management program! Here are a few updates of what has been going on:

The Northwoods Barrier is IN!

On Saturday, Sierra metals installed the Northwood barrier on the west side of Upper Prior Lake. This will block carp from entering this known spawning area when they start moving upstream later this spring.

First Micro-Haul Attempt

A small group of carp on Spring Lake were grouped in an area unsuitable for seining. Rather than miss out on an opportunity, staff tried using one of the District’s small block nets to try and get the carp on Sunday for a “micro-haul”! While only 20 carp were caught, staff figured out some of the logistics this new tool.

Gill Netting Pilot Project

If conditions are right, the District will try to complete the Gill Netting Pilot Project in Mud/Crystal Bay either tomorrow or later this week. The goal is to see if gill nets can be used as a supplemental method to remove carp from the lakes without harming native fish. Gill nets are a great tool that most other states allow for carp, but Minnesota has restrictions that we hope to help change.

Ferric Chloride Facility Temporary Barrier

A temporary barrier will be installed at the ferric chloride facility site this week to prevent carp migration while we wait for better, lower water conditions to install in the permanent barrier later this year. The Geis wetland is a known carp spawning location so the District is working to prevent carp from accessing this wetland for spawning.

View Full Article carp, carp barriers, carp management

Time to count the chickens (or rather…carp)

Posted by PLSLWD Staff - March 10, 2020 - News, Carp Management, Prior Lake

The results are in! The Prior Lake-Spring Lake Watershed District is happy to announce that we’ve completed two winter seines so far this year on Upper Prior Lake, one on March 2-3rd and the other one on March 5th.

Successful first seine: The first one successfully removed over FIVE TONS of carp from Upper Prior Lake! This was the District’s first time using underwater speakers and block nets to “herd” carp into the removal areas. It worked like a charm and will definitely be a tool we’ll use on future seines.

How did the second seine go? The commercial fishermen had a nice aggregation of carp in the haul area to start with. This was our first time putting the nets into this portion of the lake, and we weren’t sure what to expect. While the fishermen didn’t run into any obstructions on the bottom of the lake like trees and cinderblocks (as we did on Spring Lake earlier this year), they got caught in the mud several times. This forced the fishermen to stop pulling in the nets and go find the snag to release it out of the mud, allowing time for carp to find ways to escape the seine haul. Only 100 pounds of carp were removed from the lake today, but what we learned from this new netting area will make the next attempt in this area more successful! The fishermen are now experienced at netting this area, and if the carp group up here again, we’ll have a game plan to trap them.

Wish I had been there to see it! No problem – we’ve go you covered! Click below to see a video to see footage from the seine and a recap of how both the seine events went.

So what’s next? The District isn’t done removing carp from Upper Prior Lake! We still have many tricks up our sleeve to get the job done including open water seines this spring, box traps, electrofishing removals, and stocking bluegills (to name a few!). Please click here to learn more about the District’s Integrated Pest Management Plan for Carp and ways that you can help. You can follow the District’s carp removal activities on our Carp Removal Updates page or email kkeller-miller@plslwd.org to be added to the carp seine notification list.

View Full Article Prior Lake, Upper Prior, carp, carp management, carp removals, carp seine