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The recent capture of more than 300 invasive carp in the Mississippi River, downriver from Winona, shows the growing threat from the carp and the need for lawmakers and the Department of Natural Resources to step up efforts to prevent their spread into Minnesota.

So far those efforts have been insufficient.

It’s not as if state leaders haven’t had plenty of time to be more aggressive in keeping invasive carp out of Minnesota. The first invasive carp captured in

Minnesota was a grass carp in 1991, followed by a bighead carp in 1996 and the first silver carp in 2008.

Invasive carp harm other fish species and degrade water quality, among other problems.

Many of the carp have been moving up the Mississippi River. If they are not yet in the Minnesota River — which connects to the Mississippi in the Twin Cities — they soon will be.

Researchers from the Minnesota and Wisconsin natural resources departments have been tracking invasive carp that had been previously caught and tagged, hoping the “traitor fish” would lead them to hiding spots.

Late last month they located several tagged carp below Winona and sent in a commercial crew which captured 323 invasive carp using seine nets.

That included 296 silver carp — known for jumping out of the water and striking boaters.

Locating hundreds of carp in one pool is alarming.

Conservation groups, including the Friends of the Mississippi River and the Stop Carp Coalition, have been pushing for stronger funding to install a bio-acoustic fish fence (bubble barrier) at Lock and Dam 5 near Winona.

With a record surplus, the last session offered the opportunity for the Legislature to provide the $18.4 million to the DNR that the groups had called for.

Instead just $1.7 million was provided to expand carp management programs.

Meanwhile the DNR opposed a bill to fund a barrier, saying they want to first update their carp plan. But groups have been asking the agency since 2020 to update their out of date plan. The DNR says it will soon have an updated plan.

The agency and Legislature need to have more urgency in attacking the invasive carp problem before it’s too late.

— Mankato Free Press, Dec. 19