DNR: Invasive silver carp caught on St. Croix River

Minnesota conservation officials said Monday that a silver carp — the kind that in other states is known to leap out of the water and cause havoc for boaters — was recently caught in the St. Croix River near Prescott, Wis.

The carp was caught by a commercial fishing operation during routine spring netting around where two silver carp were caught in 2017, the first time the fish had been confirmed in the St. Croix, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said in a statement.

The most recently captured silver carp was a male more than 26 inches long and weighing 7 pounds.

While the DNR continues to be concerned about the potential impact of invasive carp in the St. Croix River and other Minnesota waters, individual adult fish captures do not indicate reproduction or an established population of invasive carp in the St. Croix, DNR invasive fish coordinator Nick Frohnauer said in a statement.

"In this instance, there was one invasive carp out of the hundreds of fish handled in the haul," Frohnauer said.

Invasive carp progressed upstream since escaping into the Lower Mississippi River in the 1970s. These large fish compete with native species and pose a threat to rivers and lakes. No breeding populations have been detected in Minnesota waters, the DNR said.

Individual invasive carp have been caught as far upstream in Mississippi River Pool 2 near the Twin Cities.

In June 2017, an angler fishing a private gravel pit within the Minnesota River floodplain near Redwood Falls in southwestern Minnesota caught a massive bighead carp measuring nearly 4 feet and weighing 62 pounds.