Asian Carp Continue to be Pulled from Channahon Lake

Commercial fishermen have teamed up with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the Forest Preserve District of Will County to harvest Asian carp from the Rock Run Rookery, which is located on Youngs Road, south of U.S. 6 in Channahon.

And, word is, they're making steady progress in the removal of the fish, a non-native spieces that represents a threat to the ecosystems of local rivers and to the Great Lakes should they reach Lake Michigan, according to a forest preserve district news release.

Asian carp have been know to grow to 110 pounds and are recognized as prodigious eaters, consuming between 10 and 15 percent of their body weight each day, according to the forest preserve district news release.

Through mid-April, 445 bighead and silver carp were removed the the Rock Run Rookery, totalling about 11,000 pounds, according to information supplied by the forest preserve district.

District spokesman Burce Hodgdon said in a news release all of the fish caught during the IDNR harvest are being removed by a company that will make a liquid fish fertilizer from the carp. He said the project will continue as long as sufficient numbers of carp are being pulled from the lake.