Approximately 330 students from six local middle schools in the La Crosse area attended the annual 7^th Grade Environmental Day, September 21, in Galesville, Wisconsin.  Heidi Keuler, La Crosse FRO, gave a presentation on Asian carp entitled, “Can These Fish Really Fly?” 

Students listened, and were amazed when Keuler presented information on potential maximum size of the carp, food consumption, reproduction, ability to spread, and impacts to the ecosystem. 

During the discussion, students created interesting solutions to the problem of Asian carp moving up the Mississippi River toward the Great Lakes.  There was a lot of laughter at the end of the presentation when Keuler showed a movie of the “flying fish” and pictures of the recent Redneck Tournament held on the Illinois River, near Bath, Illinois. 

The take-home messages students left with included: do not release pet fish from their aquariums, do not dump bait buckets after fishing, and to call the Service or their local DNR station if they suspect they caught one of these fish while angling.