Carp PHOTO: David S. Liebl
Call it Carpageddon or decarpification, a Dane County project amounts to all out war on the least-loved fish in Wisconsin waters. Dubbed the Clear Lakes Initiative, County Board Chair Scott McDonell said the effort will remove carp and prevent new infestations, clean up beaches and reduce phosphorus. “I’m a pacifist by nature, but when it comes to carp, which turn our lakes green and kill off native species, I have no pity, no mercy,” McDonell said.
AUDIO: Bob Hague reports (1:15)
The hope is to replicate the successful efforts to lessen the impact of carp in Lake Wingra, the smallest of the Madison chain of lakes. The County Board recently approved more than $5.5 million for the effort in the 2012 budget. The plan would remove carp from Cherokee Marsh and Mud Lake and build a bubble barrier — a system that aerates and agitates water to create a wall of bubbles that carp will not cross. In addition, money will be available for dairy farmers to reduce runoff into the watershed.