Thousands of pounds of fish are being taken out of Albert Lea Lake daily, and according to the company taking the fish out, that’s good for the lake.

&uot;When winter comes and the lake freezes, the game fish go to the middle of the lake, where there is the highest oxygen count,&uot; explained Jim Mertins, owner of Mertins Commercial Fishing, of Waterville. &uot;The carp, which can wait a little longer for the oxygen, then come in and surround the game fish, pushing them out and taking up the oxygen. The result is that the game fish die.&uot;

For the past two weeks, Mertins has taken almost 300,000 pounds of carp as well as other roughfish, such as catfish and bullheads, from Albert Lea Lake.

The process uses long dragging nets which are spread over a large section of Albert Lea Lake. The nets are put out in a semi-circle and pulled in until the fish are crowded together, at which point workers start tossing the fish into buckets and throwing them onto a semi truck.

The truck takes the fish to a company that produces Gefiltefish, a delicacy that is popular along the East coast.

The company gets permission from the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to operate. The DNR gives companies permits to take the rough fish out of lakes in large numbers, but strict rules mandate that game fish, such as walleye, pike and bass, be put back in the lake.

While one may wonder how, with thousands of fish pulled in each day, one keeps track of the game fish, Mertins says it isn’t hard.

&uot;You might think it’s tough to find the walleyes,&uot; Mertins said. &uot;But the carp are much bigger and stronger than them, so they push the weaker walleyes right up to the top.&uot;

Mertins said he is surprised by how many walleyes there are in the lake.

&uot;I can’t believe how many walleyes you guys have here,&uot; he said. &uot;I’d be fishing here all the time if I lived here.&uot;

Mertins said he plans to continue netting the carp until the lake freezes, and said that he may even come back when there is ice over the lake.