Print this story |
E-mail story |
This story has 5 comments Add your own |
iPod friendly | Bookmark this
What is this?
photo by Tim Engstrom
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist Ann Geisen grabs a container to carry rotenone, which was applied Thursday to tributaries and inlets of Pickerel Lake to kill the fish. A helicopter flew low over Pickerel Lake today, dropping the substance into the water.
Fish kill at Pickerel Lake begins
Published Friday, October 9, 2009
A reclamation project to kill and replace all the fish in Pickerel and Mud lakes began Thursday.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, in conjunction with the Shell Rock River Watershed District, had sought to do the work on Monday and Tuesday. Rain has delayed the work. On Thursday, the DNR set up a command center in the gravel parking lot across Ninth Street from Wedgewood Cove Golf Club.
Today, a helicopter flew low over Pickerel Lake, dropping the chemical rotenone into the water. Law enforcement blocked U.S. Highway 69 temporarily as the helicopter made passes over the water near the roadway.
Thursday, DNR staff injected the fish-killing chemical into ditches, tributaries and inlets feeding into Pickerel Lake. Many of the waterways were reachable only by small all-terrain vehicles.
The intent of the reclamation project is to improve water quality on Pickerel Lake. A large rough fish population, mostly carp, has damaged habitat in the lake. Carp also contribute to algae blooms by stirring up sediments at the bottom of the lake.
An electric fish barrier near the outlet of Mud Lake will keep rough fish from re-entering the lake, and the barrier keeps the fish in the lake.
After the rotenone application, the DNR is not planning to remove the fish. Leaving the fish should be similar to a winter fish kill, where the fish sink and naturally decay at the bottom rather than floating. The DNR could remove some fish if there’s a high number floating near a home or public area.
The lake will be closed to public access during the rotenone application. For a few days after the application, the water will likely have a chemical odor comparable to mothballs.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SHARE THIS STORY?
Comments
Posted by Bullitt (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 1:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Mothball odor? How about a DEAD FISH odor?
Posted by newyankee (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 2:32 p.m. (Suggest removal)
But are they safe to eat?
Posted by dede (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 8:09 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Tastes like chicken.
Posted by helmermyre (Eric Golder) on October 9, 2009 at 9:06 p.m. (Suggest removal)
newyankee, are you thinking loaves&carpes?
Posted by wonder (anonymous) on October 9, 2009 at 9:58 p.m. (Suggest removal)
It is so wonderful to have these lakes getting cleaned up. it will be nice to not have the carp digging everything up and making the lakes look awful. It was many many years of destruction to ruin our lakes....I'm glad that as a community we have said yes to clean our lakes not only for ourselves, but for future generations. Thank you Shellrock River Watershed and DNR. I will take the smell of mothballs or whatever the stink is, if we have beautiful lakes again in the near future!
Post a comment (Terms of Use Policy)
(Requires free registration.)