Star Tribune
Coordinated hunt for silver carp in Minnesota and Wisconsin comes up empty
Dozens of sturgeon, northern pike, catfish and even gar were caught in the shallow backwaters of the Mississippi River by a formidable fishing operation this week. But the one fish that state and federal agencies could not pull up in their nets was the one they were after — the dreaded silver carp.
It’s a good sign in one sense — that the invasive carp, which upend ecosystems and injure boaters when they jump out of the water, still don’t have high enough numbers in Minnesota to be easily caught. But it’s disappointing, too, because biologists know the fish are here, and Minnesota is running out of time to come up with a way to stop them from spreading further.
“It’s a mixed bag,” said Grace Luppnow, invasive fish coordinator for the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR).
The DNR’s goal is to tag and track some silver carp to learn more about where and how deep they go, how they survive and what water temperatures they prefer. It’s a change in philosophy from the recent past, when the state sought to kill all silvers on sight.
The fish, native to Russia and Asia, have been slowly spreading north for decades, along with big head and grass carp, taking over much of the Mississippi River after being released by aquatic farmers in the South.
The lock and dam system in Iowa and Minnesota has slowed them, but the fish have continued to make it past the barriers whenever the water is high enough for them to swim through open gates.
Last year, Wisconsin and Minnesota started working with federal fisheries experts on a coordinated netting method to capture carp from the pools they frequent. About a dozen boats set nets at choke points, trapping all the fish in the area. They then herd them into smaller and smaller areas using electric pulses and noise makers. Eventually, the fish are corralled inside a single seine net and pulled up. All the native fish are safely released, while the invasive carp are either euthanized or tagged.
The agencies caught about 50 silver carp in 2021 using the method. Last week they pulled up none.
“We did see six silvers jump out of the water before we could catch them,” said Kayla Stampfle, invasive carp field lead for the DNR.
The carp only seem to spawn when there are high numbers of the fish around. It could have something to do with the amount of pheromones in the water, Stampfle said.
So while carp are caught in Minnesota every year, there isn’t any evidence they’re abundant enough to reproduce.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service out of La Crosse, Wis., has tagged and followed a small handful of invasive carp over the past two years. The fish each have their quirks, said Mark Fritts, conservation officer.
“We have some that are true homebodies, that stay right around where we tagged them,” he said.
Others immediately swam back south to Iowa and haven’t been seen in Minnesota since. One carp hung out for months right by the power plant where it was caught until it suddenly bolted north, swimming about 35 miles in one day. Nobody has determined what it was seeking.
Because carp school up together, the tagged fish have led to bigger captures. The hope is that the DNR will be able to tag enough of them to find out where they spend the winter, Stampfle said.
“We have a few spots in mind, but we just haven’t gotten enough tagged silvers to figure out their wintering spots,” she said.
Star Tribune
Eagan parents of college runner who died by suicide settles suit with her coach and school
The Eagan parents of a college runner who died by suicide has settled their lawsuit that alleged their daughter’s cross-country coach at the time tormented her with demeaning comments in emails and texts about her weight and learning challenges.
The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Florida in June 2023 by Ray and Lynne Pernsteiner, the parents of Julia Pernsteiner, 23, who died in her Jacksonville University dorm room on Nov. 8, 2021. Her death came two months after the coach kicked her off the team, the suit contended.
The lawsuit named as defendants the university and former cross-country coach Ronald E. Grigg Jr., who coached women’s track and cross-country at the Division I school from 1998 until his sudden resignation in July.
The family’s attorney, Robert Spohrer, said that the case went to mediation, and there was “an amicable resolution of all issues” that led to the suit’s dismissal.
Spohrer said a strict confidentiality agreement among the parties prevented him from disclosing terms of the settlement.
Attorneys for Grigg and the university did not respond to messages left by the Star Tribune.
Messages were left Thursday with the law firms representing the school and Grigg. The defendants have yet to file any response in federal court to the allegations. The university said in a statement that it does not comment on pending litigation.
The suit contended that Pernsteiner’s constitutional rights were violated under the Americans with Disabilities Act and under Title IX because of discriminatory acts based on her gender.
The state Republican Party and conservative legal groups filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday claiming that Hennepin County did not appoint partisan election judges in the right way.
The party and two conservative groups, the Upper Midwest Law Center and the Minnesota Voters Alliance, want to know how Hennepin County appointed election judges to its absentee ballot board this year. The board’s work includes making sure signatures on absentee ballots match signatures on voter registration cards and deciding if a ballot is spoiled or not.
The central question of the lawsuit, according to Andy Cilek, executive director of the Minnesota Voters Alliance, is whether county elections officials have to exhaust lists of potential election judges provided by the political parties before selecting others for the absentee ballot boards, which are required to have a balance of Republican and Democratic election judges.
“We want to understand how this occurred,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann.
The suit alleges no one from a list of 1,500 Republicans supplied by the state Republican party to the Secretary of State’s office were selected by Hennepin County. Hann said he did not know if any Republicans were selected to serve.
Ryan Wilson of the Upper Midwest Law Center said the group has not scrutinized lists of election judges in other counties to make sure they included names provided by the state Republican Party. Wilson said his group is focusing on Hennepin County because it has the most voters, and the most potential to have an impact, he said.
In a statement, Daniel Rogan, Hennepin County auditor, said absentee ballot board members were appointed in compliance with state law and guidance from the Secretary of State.
Funeral services for Alexander “Xander” Steven Mick will take place Monday at Discovery Church in Sauk Rapids beginning at 2 p.m.
The boy was injured Saturday after being run over by a wagon pulled by a tractor at the haunted hayride Harvest of Horror.
Xander was a unique child who loved Jesus with all his heart, said his mother, Teri Dahlberg Mick, in a statement.
“He was full of life, a junior black belt in taekwondo, played drums for worship team; he was in band, sang in choir, in robotics and soccer, and almost was an Eagle Scout,” she said.
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