Last week, a commercial angler captured a bighead carp around the New Ulm area. It is largest noticed till date in the region as weighs 25 pounds. Minnesota has been struggling to control the spread of invasive carp. The carp has already invaded Twin Cities, now it seems that they are marching westward through the Minnesota River.

DNR Invasive Fish Coordinator Nick Frohnauer announced on Wednesday that they have suspected bighead carp in the Minnesota River from the Mississippi River. He has termed their discovery disappointing. “It is just an individual, which is in keeping with how we’ve caught them before. So it’s a single one which indicates it’s not an established or reproducing population”, said Frohnauer.

According to Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, the bighead carp catch raises concern about potential effects of invasive carp in the Minnesota River watershed. However, it doesn’t assure that carp population is establishing itself in those waters.

It’s been six years since carp first hit Minnesota water and has been uncontrolled since. Their disrupting habitat is posing trouble to native species. Before the recent catch, five bighead carp were netted in the St. Croix River near Stillwater and month after that a grass carp was caught in the Minnesota River at New Ulm.

The upper St. Anthony dam has been closed already to prevent carp from migrating further up the Mississippi. No evidence of presence of invasive carp in the St. Anthony Dam has been found, which was closed last summer. However, that doesn’t ensure the carp haven’t invaded the dam. There are preventive measures that local authority has planned to employ to prevent carp from populating other areas. The problem arises how carp would be stopped from penetrating water bodies without disturbing native species.