Title: Asian carp found in St. Croix River - first silver carp
Headings: Invasive silver carp found for the first time in St. Croix River
Invasive silver carp found for the first time in St. Croix River
Content: “This news is disappointing but not unexpected,” said DNR invasive fish coordinator Nick Frohnauer. “ The silver carp was captured within viewing distance of the St. Croix’s confluence with the Mississippi River. In 2014, two silver carp were found in the Mississippi only a short distance upstream from where the St. Croix and Mississippi meet.” Biologists have not yet uncovered evidence of a reproducing population of either species in the metro waters — a key distinction in their strategy to slow their invasion. “The location where the carp were captured is a well-known over-wintering area for several species of fish,” Frohnauer said in a news release. “ At this time, it is hard to predict if these individuals would have moved (farther) upstream the St. Croix River, or back into the Mississippi River when water temperatures warm up in the spring.” The silver carp caught on the St. Croix measured 33 inches long and weighed 13 pounds. One bighead carp was also caught by the commercial angler, who was working with a DNR fisheries biologist, the DNR said. Once the ice clears, DNR workers and commercial anglers plan to survey for additional invasive carp near Prescott. The DNR will also sample at the Allen S. King Power Plant near Bayport, where bighead carp have been caught in the past.