# Why does the government deliberately poison lakes? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 16, 2010, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242 "2010-02-16T19:48:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/21 "2010-02-17T17:52:58Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > Gypsy moths defoliate and sometimes kill trees in North America. Sometimes? I can remember when the gypsy moths first got to Pennsylvania. There was a lot of talk about if the forests were going to survive it. It was the height of summer and there were NO LEAVES on the trees, in huge areas that just spread as the caterpillars moved outward. ---
**Author:** ![N9IWP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/n9iwp/32/3154_2.png) [@N9IWP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/N9IWP)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/22 "2010-02-17T18:12:20Z")
Article on lake drawdown / rotenone treatment to get rid of carp: > **[Holiday a hot time for fishing](https://lacrossetribune.com/lifestyles/recreation/outdoors/holiday-a-hot-time-for-fishing/article_ab70764f-577f-55c7-8943-5016b148cbb1.html)** > > Rivers, lakes and streams are expected to be busy this holiday weekend. Now if the fish would only cooperate. Brian ---
**Author:** ![Carptracker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@Carptracker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carptracker)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/23 "2010-02-17T19:20:01Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > I’ve come up with a novel solution to the Asian Carp problem. It’s a rather crude and brute-force-ish method, but what the hell? Any port in a storm and all that. > > Since the carp panic and jump out of the water when a boat comes near, simply outfit boats with giant nets. Launch a few hundred of them a few miles downstream of Chicago and slowly head south. When your net gets full, pull out. Rinse and repeat. Lots of people have thought of this, and it does not work that well from a commercial standpoint. Too fuel consumptive, for one thing, and you don’t catch as many fish as you do by traditional means, meaning gill or trammel nets. If you are only fishing for the large ones, you can use gill or trammel nets without catching too many natives, because you just use mesh that is too big for most of them, and you use short sets and drive the fish. Plus, only silver carp jump. The very similar bighead carp does not, and both are problems. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/24 "2010-02-17T19:24:51Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > and leaves them pining for the fjords. Watch your step, me beauty, or this could be your fate: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhJQp-q1Y1s&feature=fvw](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhJQp-q1Y1s&feature=fvw) ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/25 "2010-03-09T03:16:57Z")
I just got another envelope of clippings from my mother in Florida. One was about piranha being found in a local lake. A man caught a foot-long red belly piranha and called the Fish and Wildlife Commission about it. As piranha are non-native and can destroy the local habitat, officials decided to poison the whole lake with rotenone. IMO the officials had a very convincing argument. Florida already has problems with Quaker parrots, many species of iguana, pythons, anacondas and Nile monitor lizards. However, the fisherman in the story was worried that even after planned restocking, his fishing whole would never be the same. ‘If I had known this would happen, I never would have called FWC.’ he said. He was also upset they would not let him keep the piranha for mounting. ---
**Author:** ![KNO3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@KNO3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KNO3)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/26 "2010-03-09T03:23:37Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > and leaves them pining for the fjords. They’re not dead yet… ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/27 "2010-03-09T05:25:18Z")
> [@KNO3](#): > > They’re not dead yet… They’re just resting. (Or is this what you just said?) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/28 "2010-03-09T05:26:26Z")
> [@KNO3](#): > > They’re not dead yet… :smack:Just got it. ---
**Author:** ![KNO3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@KNO3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KNO3)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/29 "2010-03-09T07:35:24Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > :smack:Just got it. No worries. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/30 "2010-03-09T07:58:41Z")
> [@KNO3](#): > > No worries. So mine _was_ from a different source. :dubious: Gotta be more confident, Leo. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2010, 8:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/31 "2010-03-09T08:42:43Z")
They’re doing something interesting in a local lake. There is a tiny snail (New Zealand mud snail) that has invaded Capital lake. The lake is near the sound, so they [drained the lake](http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/02/17/1073455/capitol-lake-to-get-saline-rinse.html) then filled it with sea water. They will completely drain it and replace the fresh water after they have made sure all the little destructive critters are dead, about a week. ---
**Author:** ![KNO3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea5d25/32.png) [@KNO3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KNO3)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/32 "2010-03-11T07:16:04Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > So mine _was_ from a different source. :dubious: > Gotta be more confident, Leo. Nah, I’m callin’ ya Bruce. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/33 "2010-03-11T16:25:48Z")
> [@KNO3](#): > > Nah, I’m callin’ ya Bruce. I’m into political science, myself. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/34 "2010-03-11T16:28:15Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > \ They will completely drain it and replace the fresh water after they have made sure all the little destructive critters are dead, about a week. Didn’t Keith Richards do something like this a number of times? ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/35 "2010-03-11T16:51:42Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > They usually electroshock lakes if they want to count fish. As far as I know, this only stuns the fish temporarily. heh. Unless you are me. When I was in college I was a wildlife major taking a wetlands class. We went out to do electroshocking for a fish survey. You shock the fisj, they float up stunned and you scoop them up in a net to measure and tag them, then release them back into the pond. Netting the stunned fish takes a bit of skill - they recover fairly rapidly. I missed them, so I repeated the shock. And missed them all again. So I shocked them again. And once more. Fish recover well from being shocked once. Maybe twice. After being shocked 4 times, they were very easy to catch, since they were dead. I got an F for that assignment. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/36 "2010-03-11T17:06:49Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > heh. Unless you are me. When I was in college I was a wildlife major taking a wetlands class. We went out to do electroshocking for a fish survey. You shock the fisj, they float up stunned and you scoop them up in a net to measure and tag them, then release them back into the pond. > > Netting the stunned fish takes a bit of skill - they recover fairly rapidly. I missed them, so I repeated the shock. > > And missed them all again. So I shocked them again. And once more. > > Fish recover well from being shocked once. Maybe twice. After being shocked 4 times, they were very easy to catch, since they were dead. > > I got an F for that assignment. Toward the end, were they just floating there, gurgling, “Don’t tase me, **Moz**!”? ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/37 "2010-03-11T17:25:46Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > heh. Unless you are me. When I was in college I was a wildlife major taking a wetlands class. We went out to do electroshocking for a fish survey. You shock the fisj, they float up stunned and you scoop them up in a net to measure and tag them, then release them back into the pond. > > Netting the stunned fish takes a bit of skill - they recover fairly rapidly. I missed them, so I repeated the shock. > > And missed them all again. So I shocked them again. And once more. > > Fish recover well from being shocked once. Maybe twice. After being shocked 4 times, they were very easy to catch, since they were dead. > > I got an F for that assignment. Sucks about the fish and your grade. So… How many fish did you end up killing? ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/38 "2010-03-11T18:23:34Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > Sucks about the fish and your grade. > > So… How many fish did you end up killing? Don’t remember exactly, but more than 10. The other fun thing about that class was one guy had a hole in his hip waders - he kept getting shocked. ---
**Author:** ![tr0psn4j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@tr0psn4j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tr0psn4j)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/39 "2010-03-11T20:27:58Z")
> [@mozchron](#): > > Don’t remember exactly, but more than 10. > > The other fun thing about that class was one guy had a hole in his hip waders - he kept getting shocked. Guess electroshocking isn’t the thing for me. I have to sets of waders and they both have holes in them. Fine around here but I’ll have to get a new pair before I head out to the Sierras. ---
**Author:** ![whatami](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/85f322/32.png) [@whatami](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whatami)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2010, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242/40 "2010-03-12T06:39:09Z")
> [@Carptracker](#): > > True - but electrofishing is also very selective of different sizes and species of fishes. So if you want to get the ones hard to get by electrofishing and netting, or to know the relative number of fish species, sometimes limited cove rotenoning can be useful. Your user name indicates to me that you may actually know something about this subject (aside from all of the facts and other information you provided). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-the-government-deliberately-poison-lakes/529242.md?page=3)