Silver carp caught in SW Minn. for first time

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources says it captured an invasive silver carp in the Ocheyedan River, below the Lake Bella dam, about 100 yards from the Iowa border.

It’s the first time a silver carp has been captured in southwestern Minnesota, but DNR officials say it’s not a surprising discovery. That’s because the Ocheyedan River connects to the Little Sioux and Missouri rivers in Iowa, where silver carp previously have been found.

The DNR says it’s likely that the high water levels in Minnesota rivers this year helped the fish swim so far upstream.

“This isn’t shocking, especially given this year, where there’s been quite a bit of water on the landscape,” said Nick Frohnauer, the DNR’s invasive fish coordinator. “It just gave them a little bit easier pathway up this tributary to get into Minnesota.”

There’s no risk that the invasive fish will travel any farther upstream because its movement is blocked by the Lake Bella dam, Frohnauer said.

DNR staff received a call about a potential invasive carp sighting and decided to put down a net below the dam. That’s when they caught the silver carp, a male measuring 28.8 inches long and weighing 9.4 pounds.

Invasive carp were first brought to the United States in the 1970s as a means to control algae in fish farms in the South. They escaped into the Mississippi River and have been making their way upstream ever since.

The term invasive carp usually includes four species: silver, bighead, grass and black carp. Silver carp are known for their tendency to leap out of the water, startling boaters.

Invasive carp are voracious eaters and pose an ecological threat to rivers and lakes by crowding out native fish species. There’s a concern that they will continue to move north, possibly into the Great Lakes.

Frohnauer said that while the DNR remains concerned about their spread, there’s still no evidence that invasive carp are reproducing or have established populations in Minnesota waters.

Frohnauer said the DNR is taking steps to prevent the spread of invasive carp into southwestern Minnesota, including building an electric barrier in Iowa to prevent them from traveling through an outlet to Iowa lakes and the Little Sioux and Missouri rivers.

The DNR also continues to monitor fish populations in southwestern Minnesota, Frohnauer said.

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