The Alaska Department of Fish and Game began rotenone treatments in the Soldotna drainage in October in an effort to eradicate the invasive northern pike.
Sportfishing Managment Biologist Robert Begich said over the four day period the department was successfully able to kill all northern pike in those lakes.
Begich: “We started out with about 15 lakes in 2008 when we treated our first one, we’ve been knocking them off one or two a year, this year these four lakes will get us down just to a handful of lakes that have invasive northern pike in them.”
He said in the coming summer agencies will be restoring native fish species to the lakes that underwent the treatments, after that more treatments will continue.
Begich: “Lakes that are next on the list is the remainder of the Soldotna Creek drainage, Soldotna Sevena Lake, Cisca Lake and Tree Lake and then the creek itself, those will occur in the years 2017 and by 2018 the drainage will be pike free.”
The department continues to monitor levels in the treated lakes but Begich said the rotenone has degraded to well under levels that require restrictions.