(Palmer) - The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), Division of Sport Fish will be using a fish pesticide called rotenone during the week of October 12, 2020, in Kings and Anderson lakes to remove invasive northern pike. Northern pike are not native to Southcentral Alaska and were illegally introduced decades ago. This application will provide a safe, efficient, and permanent solution to remove northern pike from these waters and follows other successful pike eradication and lake reclamation efforts by ADF&G in recent years on the Kenai Peninsula and Anchorage.

Prior to the treatment, signs will be posted along nearby roads notifying the public when the work will begin and that access to these waters is prohibited while the rotenone is being applied. The rotenone is expected to remain active until the spring when increasing sunlight and temperatures will naturally degrade it. If post-treatment surveys indicate the eradication effort was successful, ADF&G will stock both lakes with hatchery rainbow trout, wild threespine stickleback, and longnose suckers during the summer of 2021.

For information about the Kings and Anderson Lakes northern pike eradication project, please visit the Anderson and Kings Lakes Restoration webpage.

For additional information, please contact Fishery Biologist Parker Bradley at (907) 746-6328.

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