DWR vs Carp! Who will win?

[MRJ]

About 30 years ago at the Provo River inlet at Utah Lake State Park I talked to a guy who was in charge of a commercial carp netting operation. They had five very large aluminum john boats about 8' X 20' full of carp. Several men were using large coal scoop shovels loading the fish onto a conveyer and into a large tractor trailer. He said that day they netted about 54 tons of carp! At 8.7 lbs. average as mentioned in the recent newspaper article, that is over 12,000 carp. This guy went on to say that they were doing this day in and day out from Ice-out to Ice-up and the largest daily catch was 78 tons or approximately 18,000 fish. I don't have any idea what kind of population is in Utah Lake, but if you had several small operators like this working the lake most of the year for a few years, they should be able to put more than just a dent in the population. Maybe it really could work. It might not even have to cost a lot if some incentives were offered. Incentives plus the proceeds of the fish sold for fish meal, pet food, etc. could make it a viable business. It might be worth a try, who knows. You will never get rid of the carp, only reduce the numbers to a more acceptable level. Mr. J.
[signature]