Utah Lake's excess carp become mink food, compost

ksl.com - Utah Lake's excess carp become mink food, compost: "Utah Lake's excess carp become mink food, compost
March 13th, 2009 @ 12:14pm
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- More than 1 million pounds of unwanted carp have been pulled out of Utah Lake this winter, with most of it going to a farmer's fields and a nearby mink farm.

The fish are being removed as part of a multimillion dollar effort to save the June sucker, an endangered fish that only lives in Utah Lake and its tributaries.

When carp feed on the lake bottom, they tear up vegetation that provides important places for young June suckers to hide from predators.

A commercial fishing business began removing carp in the fall as part of a $500,000 contract to remove 2.5 million pounds of the fish over six months.

Some of the carp will also soon go to a local composting operation."