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Elizabeth Dunbar and Evan Frost

Photos: Common carp are being removed from Minn. lakes by the truckload

A Carp Solutions employee throws a common carp from a boat.
A Carp Solutions employee throws a common carp from a boat into the back of a pickup truck on the shore of Lake Steiger in Victoria, Minn., on Friday. Each fish weighs 8 to 10 pounds, sometimes more.
Evan Frost | MPR News

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On Stieger Lake in Victoria, Minn. — the headwaters of Lake Minnetonka — four workers in hip waders spent Friday morning tossing nearly 2,000 pounds of common carp from nets to a boat to the back of a pickup truck.

The fish have become a nuisance in some lakes because they're so good at moving around and destroying the habitats of more desirable fish species.

"They can really dominate the biomass in a lake," said Jordan Wein, general manager for Carp Solutions, the company doing the work Friday.

"They have a large effect on churning up the bottom of the lake, which you get to see with poor water quality on lakes where it's brown but it's also green on top."

And in places like the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District where lots of lakes and streams are connected, common carp move around and take over fast.

"Their ability to repopulate an area is pretty astounding," Wein said.

Gallery
11 of 11
Eric Fieldseth of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
Eric Fieldseth of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District drives a boat on Steiger Lake. "We want to address carp spawning," he said.
Evan Frost | MPR News
1 of 11
A Carp Solutions employee throws a common carp from a boat.
A Carp Solutions employee throws a common carp from a boat into the back of a pickup truck on the shore of Lake Steiger in Victoria, Minn., on Friday. Each fish weighs 8 to 10 pounds, sometimes more.
Evan Frost | MPR News
2 of 11
Common carp sit in the back of a pickup truck.
Common carp sit in the back of a pickup truck after being removed from Steiger Lake. Of course, the fish weren't always this despised. Some European immigrants who settled in Minnesota in the 19th century loved eating carp. The fish arrived to Minnesota on trains and were introduced into lakes. Now, more than 100 years later, watershed managers are trying to reverse that mistake.
Evan Frost | MPR News