Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1942-07-23

conservation department has either
faced the problem or planned ahead.
Although the fishermen of the state
pour in thousands of dollars into the
state treasury every year, depart
ment and state heads are unwilling
to spend necessary money to make
much more than a small start to
clean up the carp evil and keep it
under control.
While the present program under
Mr.. Schultz is constructive and in
telligent, it is on such small scale
that it can not hope to cope with
the difficult and serious carp menace.
Greed VS.. Conservation.
And here enters another angle and
perhaps the most dominating angle
to this carp situation.
1t is the business of CONNER
cial fishing!
For many years Minnesota has left
carp eradication to the commercial
fishermen. 1t has grown to a huge
business involving hundreds of thou
sands of dollars in investments and
business every year. These CONNER
cial fishermen have been entrusted
with the eradication of the carp from
Minnesota lakes. Last year they took
more than 100000 pounds from Big
Stone lake alone-enough to sup
ply the entire eastern carp market.
This lake alone has enough carp in
it to take care of this eastern trade
year after year.
Under the present program the
commercial fishermen take the
lakes which are easy to seine,
bring in their rough fish, net the
big carp and get enough to sup
ply their trade.
The state also gets a commission
on these, which if turned into fund
would help finance independent state
crews. Occasionally on some of the
tougher lakes the commercial fisher
men are given bull head concession
to sweeten their rough fish contract
and often they are more interested
getting bullheads than seining carp.
AS a result of years of contacts
with the commercial fishermen, some
of the men in the state department
have become commercial fishing
minded. Although this business of
commercial fishing has been going on
for scores of years the carp continue
to multiply and flourish in Mime
sofa waters. Until just recently the
department didn't have even the be-
ginning of program to meet this
growing menace outside of the COM
mercial fishermen who propagate
about as much carp by these ineffii-
cient methods as they take out of the
lakes.
What's the Solution.
What's the answer to this carp
problem?
Nobody has the entire answer.
Suddenly the state has awakened to
the menace and now conservationists
and sportsmen all over the state are
demanding immediate removal of the
rough fish from the lakes near their
communities. The state department
has had no plan until just recently
and now it is so pitifully small that
unless greatly expanded it will never
be the answer either.
The carp menace is a difficult
and serious problem. 1t is as
difficult as many sided, it ap-
pears, as there are lakes in Min
nesota. No two lakes are ex-
actly alike in size, depth, shore
line or in vegetation around the
shOreline.
Right now Al Schultz and his men
are working with traps and dams
which impound the carp as they 60
up the rivers emptying into lakes to
feed and spawn. With several diff
ferent traps and devices they have
managed to trap thousands of carp
which they will seine off in the
winter months. Then with the carp
trapped at the source they expect
to seine the lakes of rough fish. This
isn't always easy because lakes do
not have uniform bottoms and often
have difficult shore lines. Eventually
they hope to check the growth of the
carp and keep them under control.
To do a really effective job they
need several hundred men working
in crews and much more equipment
than they have now. To get this
the state will have to become more
aroused about the situation than it
is today although people are getting
more aroused and disguised year after
year as they see the fishing lakes
become scarcer.
The truth is that the fishing
fans and sportsmen will have to
demonstrate with certain Off
Gals in the conservation depart
ment that they are more import
ant and have more influence than
the commercial fishermen and
their own selfish interests.
They will have to demand that a
greater share of the conservation
money collected from individual fish
ermen as well as from the proceeds