Needed: carp eradication — Plan is to rid Utah Lake of the fish to benefit June suckers

PROVO — Utah Lake is for suckers. June suckers, that is.

For their sake and that of other native species, the carp heavily populating the lake need to be removed. What to do with them, though, has turned into a bit of a controversy.

The June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program is looking for commercial fishermen and marketing companies to propose ways to remove 5 million pounds of carp a year for six years from Utah's largest freshwater lake. Several marketing companies that have recently contacted the program want to sell the fish for human consumption. One company wants to ship the fish to Iraq in a humanitarian effort.

However, most of the carp are contaminated with PCBs, which can cause problems for people in developmental stages, such as children and fetuses.

Jeff Salt, executive director of the Great Salt Lakekeeper, said although he believes the carp should be removed from the lake, they shouldn't be used for human consumption.

"We firmly believe that it is unethical and irresponsible for the state to condone the sale of contaminated carp for humanitarian purposes to unsuspecting people in developing countries," he said. "We disagree with the state's position that federal regulations allow for the sale of contaminated fish for human consumption."

In 2006, the Utah Department of Health put out an advisory, warning women who are pregnant or who may become pregnant and children not to eat any carp. Healthy adults shouldn't eat more than 8 ounces of carp per month. The advisory was based on studies and samples taken by the health department of the carp, as well as the Environmental Protection Agency standard.

However, the Food and Drug Administration

has less stringent regulations for the consumption of carp.

Although he agrees with the health department's advisories, Reed Harris, executive director of the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program, said the FDA regulations do allow them to market the fish.

"I think it's perfectly legal and ethical since the fish are under the FDA standard," he said.

They have a lot of fish and need to find a place to put it.

"I'm sure too that if we dumped 5 million pounds of carp in the desert people would ask why we're wasting those fish when people are starving," he said.

There are other ways to dispose of the carp, including using them for fertilizer or pet food.