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Enivonmental Board <br />November 28, 2018 <br />Page 2 <br />APPROVED MINUTES <br />A. Rice Creek Watershed, Matt Kocian, Carp Study/Management in the Rice <br />Creek Watershed District <br /> <br />I. Mr. Kocian presented a PowerPoint on the status of the Common Carp in the <br />Rice Creek Watershed District. <br />II. Common Carp - an invasive species that has lived in Minnesota for <br />approximately 400 years. <br />III. These carp are considered eco-engineers because they uproot aquatic <br />vegetation. This action releases Nitrogen and Phosphorus (N&P) in the <br />atmosphere. In addition, a high-density carp population impacts water quality. <br />The threshold for population density is 100lbs / 1 acre. <br /> A need for the study: 35,000 carp were taken out of Long Lake by a <br />professional angler. This very high number of carp highlights the gravity of <br />the carp density problem. <br />IV. The Carp Study <br /> <br /> The area of the carp study consisted of two separate water systems. Long <br />lake system and the Lino Chain of Lakes system. These two areas are <br />connected by the Rice Creek. <br /> This study sought to answer (4) questions about carp management: <br />1) Methods to measure carp in the systems <br />o Electro-fishing <br />o Netting <br />2) Carp Migration <br />o They researched daily and seasonal migration via radio receivers. <br />o Findings: <br /> Carp aggregate in the winter into large groups then break apart into <br />smaller groups and travel to deeper water with more oxygen. These <br />deeper areas are considered their winter home. <br /> In the summer time, Carp move out of winter homes and spread <br />out among the lakes. <br />o This type of migration patterns are called Partial Migration <br />o Carp spawn in the Chain of Lakes system. This area is considered <br />a Carp Nursery in the summer. <br /> <br />3) How often do juvenile carp recruit <br /> <br />o Recruitment in fisheries refers to the point of time that juvenile fish <br />join the adult population. <br />o The study used Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT tags) to <br />determine this time. PIT tags help scientists track individual organisms <br />by providing a reliable lifetime 'barcode' for an individual animal.