Thousands of invasive carp swim the channel of Ramsey County's Rice Creek and its connected lakes, rooting along the bottom and setting off a cascade of damaging effects that harm native fish, birds and plants.
Now University of Minnesota ecologists, who have spent years studying the life cycle of this unwanted fish in the Rice Creek system, are using that research coupled with new technology including "an electric fence for fish" to remove thousands of carp each spring.
"We will not meet our water-quality goals for these lakes without managing carp," said Matt Kocian, lake and stream specialist for the the Rice Creek Watershed District, which is managing the carp removal program.
