DNR Announces 1st Capture of Bighead Carp in Minnesota River

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Officials have announced the first confirmed capture of an Asian bighead carp in the Minnesota River.

The Department of Natural Resources says the 25-pound male bighead carp was caught by a commercial angler near New Ulm. It's the second time an invasive carp has been caught in the Minnesota. A grass carp was caught in the same place in December.

DNR invasive fish coordinator Nick Frohnauer says they've suspected that bighead carp have occasionally entered the Minnesota River from the Mississippi. But he says it doesn't mean the fish are reproducing or have established a population.

Invasive carp have been moving up the Mississippi River since the 1970s. No breeding populations have been detected in Minnesota, but individual fish have been caught in the Mississippi, St. Croix and Minnesota rivers.