Alaska eliminates invasive pike and restocks lake with 6,836 Arctic char
Alaska state biologists successfully eradicated an invasive northern pike population in a remote lake using the piscicide rotenone. The lake was subsequently restocked with over 6,800 Arctic char to restore the native ecosystem.
Why it matters
This project demonstrates the use of targeted chemical intervention to manage invasive species and protect native biodiversity in fragile aquatic environments.
In a remote corner of Southcentral Alaska, state biologists carried out a dramatic restoration: they treated an entire lake with rotenone, a plant-derived piscicide, to wipe out an invasive population of northern pike. After the treatment, post-surveys confirmed the pike were gone. The next step was rebuilding what had been lost. In June 2013, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) stocked 6,836 hatchery-reared Arctic char fingerlings into the now pike-free lake, jump-starting the recovery of a native fishery that had been pushed out by the predator. This account draws on ADF&G’s technical reports and project summaries documenting the rotenone treatment and restocking. Read on to know more:Why northern pike are a problem in AlaskaNorthern pike are not native to most of Southcentral Alaska.
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