Hundreds of Carp Removed from Crystal Lake to Improve Water Quality

Engineers removed more than 1,000 carp from Crystal Lake in Robbinsdale on Friday as part of an ongoing effort to improve water quality.

“We just want to get in the lake more in balance,” said Marta Roser, Robbinsdale water resources specialist.

Roser says there’s pan fish and tiger muskies in the lake right now.

“We just want to get kind of the food chain and the food web more in balance in the lake. Carp can over-dominate,” said Roser. “We want to even that out and give the sport fish a fighting chance.”

More than 3,000 carp have been taken out of the lake so far this summer. Experts estimate there are more than 10,000 carp in the lake.

“Common carp are bad for water quality. They stir up the bottom of the lake because they’ll feed off the bottom of the lake,” said Jordan Wein from WSB Engineering, the team conducting the carp removal. “They are looking for seeds and worms and other little invertebrates. But while they are doing that, they are uprooting native vegetation.”

This is only the latest effort to improve the water quality of Crystal Lake. Earlier this year, they started alum treatments and will finish them this fall.

Robbinsdale