The Myth its always The Carps "Fault"

[MoCarp]

It is documented that waters with an over abundance of common carp are typically DAMAGED waters, 

Specifically overfished;  (that means removing baby carp eaters)

Source point solution issues, (EX. silt from exposed soils Construction & farming & denuding of vegetative cover) 

Increased run off in urban areas; Because of asphalt, concrete etc covering soils, washing road salts. hydrocarbons (thats gas and oil) trace elements, heavy metals, and sewage into a water system. 

Common carp survives in those environments because of their ability to take O2 from the surface.

The University Of Minnesota is often referenced on studies on controls of Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and is wrongly generalized that removing carp always = better water clarity and better gamefish populations, that increased vegetation that helps huntable waterfowl populations.

This is in ONLY very narrow and specific situations, I will explain

Prezmek Bajer said "Carp are invasive in SOME places but not invasive in a lot of places 50-100 kg of carp per hectar are ok" 
Dept of fish and wildlife studies, University Of Minnesota. lake Susan, Minnesota common carp reduced from 200kg-60 kg per hectar
or from about 250 pounds of carp per acre reduced to 130 pounds per acre

Lake Susan stratifies in summer, water clarity increased in May & June but fell back almost no change post carp removal levels from July-October

Bayer goes on to say "phosphorus loading blamed on carp in laboratory tests, are not typically shown in real world in the lake results.....so phosphorus is not always driven by carp other things are happening we are not sure about" It should be noted he goes on to warn "vegetation along the shoreline usually goes up, this sometimes is a problem for recreational users" It should be noted weed "mowing" is an expensive labor intensive problem in may natural lakes in the upper midwest.

Prezmek Bajer documents common carp have poor recruitment in waters that have good populations of predator fishes because those fish that feed heavlly on eggs and carp larva; bluegills specifically noted, Bluegills are one of the 1st fishes to die in a low O2 event exacerbating YOY recruitment of common carp. lakes with wetlands that experience winter kill allow hyper common carp recruitment due to lack of predation of eggs, larva and YOY common carp.

If you examine the poster children of common carp renovations; Lake Utah, UT and Lake Wingra, WI; both under close examination are damaged water systems, that had historically bad water quality issues and over harvest.

 Lake Wingra is a small lake located inside the city limits of the U.S. city of Madison, Wisconsin. The smallest of the five major lakes drained by the Yahara River in Dane County, Lake Wingra is bordered by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum on the south and west and the City of Madison on the remaining shoreline. Laughably after common carp reductions, Lake Wingra had the water fowl removed because water quality issues still caused swimming beach closures. now the lake which still has carp (and buffalo) but in lower numbers, is so clogged with vegetation (80%) its having weeds mechanically removed at 10x the cost of carp reductions!

Madison's lakes are listed as 'impaired' by the state of WI with to efforts to prevent farm manure from running off fields and into streams and lakes.

 

Utah Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Utah. It lies in Utah Valley, surrounded by the Provo-Orem metropolitan area. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt Lake. Lake Utah  that HAD a native cutthroat trout population spawning steams were diverted and dammed and the trout harvested to extinction. 

 Common carp stocked by the Mormon Settlers inn the late 1800's to give them food fishes to replace the declining trout they had become dependent on. with the growth of Provo around lake Utah water quality issues got worse,  The lake was reported as severely polluted in 1948, raw sewage was dumped until 1967.

Common Carp are Naturalized in our waters for over 140 years and cause no issues in most waters they occur, it can be argued they provide a nutritious prey item for traditional native "game fish", sport for anglers and a potential economic upside for local economies. The areas that produce huge common carp most anglers want to catch also produce large gamefish having both is not mutually exclusive

 

 

[MoCarp]

 

Utah Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Utah. It lies in Utah Valley, surrounded by the Provo-Orem metropolitan area. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt Lake 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utah_Lake

 

[MoCarp]

"Provo visitors and residents cautioned against algal blooms Utah Lake" JULY 3, 2017 "The blue-green algae in question is caused by urban runoff and wastewater but is most commonly attributed to warmer weather in the summer months, Spangler said.

 http://universe.byu.edu/.../toxic-algae-returns-to-utah.../

[MoCarp]

Mike Slater, regional aquatic manager for the Division of Wildlife Resources, says a population of northern pike, placed in Utah Lake illegally, is growing in size. Biologists have launched a research project to learn how the pike might affect sport fish and endangered fish in the lake. And they need your help: "Why the concern?
Slater says northern pike sit at the very top of the food chain. "They eat anything they want," he says. "Adding a predator like this may hurt the bass, walleye, catfish and panfish populations that already live in the lake."

In addition to the many sport fish in the lake, June suckers — a fish listed as endangered on the federal Endangered Species list — also live in the lake.

Slater says Utah Lake is the only water in the world where June suckers live. "The illegal introduction of northern pike could negate much of the work that has been done to recover the June sucker," he says. "Work to help June suckers has also helped sport fish in the lake. Whoever put northern pike in the lake did a selfish and thoughtless thing  

 https://wildlife.utah.gov/.../1806-anglers-fish-in-utah...

[MoCarp]

 

 Lake Wingra is a small lake located inside the city limits of the U.S. city of Madison, Wisconsin. The smallest of the five major lakes drained by the Yahara River in Dane County, Lake Wingra is bordered by the University of Wisconsin–Madison Arboretum on the south and west and the City of Madison on the remaining shoreline.  

 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Wingra