Proposals sought on carp extraction

PROVO — Carp introduced to Utah Lake by early settlers are confounding current residents looking for ways to get rid of the fish.

The carp population has grown to about 7.5 million, causing destruction to the lake's ecosystem, according to biologists.

They're now looking for a way to get rid of the carp and restore the lake's habitat. Particularly at risk is the June sucker, one of the rarest fish in the world and native only to Utah Lake.

Experts plan to hire crews in 2007 to begin removing 1 million carp a year from the lake for seven years in hopes of permanently decimating the population, said Reed Harris of the June Sucker Recovery Program.

But it's unclear how the fish will be removed, and the group is looking for professional ideas with market potential, Harris said.

"We are not going to fund someone who says, 'We'll haul them to the landfill,' " Harris said. "We're looking for a market for the carp, everything from fertilizer to using them for pet food as well as human consumption, livestock food, mixing them with compost, stuff like that."

Those who submit proposals don't necessarily have to be prepared to carry out the proposals, he said. "It's like a marketing study more than anything else," Harris said.

Believing carp would be a good source of food, settlers introduced them to the lake 125 years ago.

Now the fish, which average about 2 feet long and 8.7 pounds, are devastating Utah Lake, recovery program biologist Chris Keleher has said.

The fish have reduced the lake bed to mud, stripping vegetation and making it nearly impossible for the endangered June sucker to hide from predators.

As the carp forage the mud, they also churn up years of trapped phosphorus, feeding algae that deplete the water of oxygen, affecting the health of the entire lake.

In the 1800s, Utah Lake was home to at least six native fish species. Today, the June sucker and the Utah sucker are the only two remaining. After a decade of study, experts believe there are as few as 300 adult wild June suckers left.

In 1986, the federal government named the June sucker an endangered species.