Carp Solutions

Aquatic plants are on the mend and so are native fish – the first sign that carp removal is having a positive effect on lake ecosystems is the return of rooted aquatic plants. We are currently witnessing it in Lake Allegan, MI where we reduced carp biomass by 75%. Two years ago, the lake was practically void of plants, but now major shallow areas are beginning to be covered by expanding patches of vegetation. The hardiest species often recover first (including some invasives, unfortunately, like this Eurasian watermilfoil) but over time, more and more species are expected to appear. This will create better habitat for fish, invertebrates, and aquatic birds. Rooted pants also increase water clarity, reduce the severity of algal blooms and may promote storage of atmospheric carbon into lake sediments, much like maintaining plan cover facilitates carbon sequestration in terrestrial ecosystems (regenerative agriculture).

We are already seeing a sharp increase in yellow perch abundance and size seen in the fish survey conducted by our partners from Wood in June.

2022 Season is finally here! Last week we were testing Acoustic Receivers in Lake Owasso to make them ready for a deployment in Kalamazoo River, MI. Acoustic telemetry is used to autonomously monitor fish movements over long periods of time. These systems are especially important in marine environments (where radio telemetry does not work) and are often used for tracking the movement of, for example, coral reef fishes. In this case, we will be using them to track spawning migrations of common carp. Not as exciting as coral reefs but we are not complaining...

Interesting and eloquent description of our work by one of our clients 😀

Pet Micro-chipping Technology In Carp! Owners of loved and valuable pets sometimes have a microchip implanted to help recover them if they are lost or stolen. The same technology is now being used to help the Anoka Conservation District remove destructive carp from lakes.We recently added microchip PIT tags to 187 carp in Typo Lake (Linw...