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As the last of the interagency team of invasive northern pike killers stepped off of the Derks Lake on Oct. 9, it began to snow in Soldotna. If all goes according to plan the fish killing piscicide rotenone will work its way through each of the four lakes treated by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, its degradation slowed by the coming winter. When it breaks down completely, it will leave behind pristine, but empty, waters to be restocked with native fish in the coming years. |
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The state agency moved quickly after getting the final approval for the extensive project which, when completed, will be the eighth and largest pike killing project to-date in the state. It will take four years and more than $1 million in both state and grant funding, but if the plan succeeds, the Soldotna Creek Drainage should be free of northern pike by 2018.
As dozens of personnel in bright yellow hazardous materials suits crossed East Mackey lake on Oct. 8, Area Management Biologist Robert Begich and Assistant Area Management Biologist Jason Pawluk sat in a boat netting dead pike that floated to the surface.
“We’ve not picked up any other kind of fish,” Begich said. |
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