Invasive Carp: Multi-Basin Movement
Invasive carp (Silver, Bighead, Grass, and Black Carp) continue to expand their range in North America, necessitating efforts to limit the spread and establishment of reproducing populations. Potential control measures include the installation of deterrents and targeted removals. Several key population bottlenecks occur at locks and dams in large rivers of North America, including locations on the Mississippi, Illinois, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers. USGS scientists are using acoustic telemetry to investigate how invasive carp move at small and large spatial scales. A better understanding of the behavior of invasive carps and native species at strategic locks and dams can assist in the development of integrated management to protect high-value fisheries and ecosystems.
Upper Mississippi River longitudinal and lateral movements
Principal Investigator – Andrea Fritts
Dams on large rivers have profoundly affected patterns of fish movement and have disrupted natural flow regimes. In the upper Mississippi River, a series of 29 lock and dam structures control water levels and flow to facilitate commercial barge traffic and control flooding. Dams vary in the degree to which they regulate flow, with some dams commonly entering open-river conditions while a few dams are infrequently in open-river condition. Understanding how native and invasive fishes move through the navigation locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River is critical to help managers conserve native species and control invasive species. A network of agencies collaborates to maintain a large-scale acoustic telemetry array that stretches throughout the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries.
__________________________________________
Illinois River real-time telemetry and multi-state modeling
Principal Investigator – Marybeth Brey
This project supports goals and objectives of the Illinois River Monitoring and Response Work Group (MRWG) by (1) providing a real-time network of acoustic receivers to detect movements and alert key management partners of invasive carp movements beyond normal ranges (i.e., above Brandon Road Lock and Dam in the Des Plaines River), (2) coordinating partner efforts to maintain a passive 69-kHz acoustic receiver network and target numbers of Silver Carp and Bighead Carp in the Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers to support multi-state movement modeling to parameterize the SEICarP model or other population modeling efforts, (3) supporting quality assurance for the multi-agency telemetry data in the Riverine Acoustic Fish Telemetry (RAFT) database, and (4) developing, running, and publishing movement models for MRWG’s Telemetry Workgroup and Modeling Workgroup in support of population model development.
__________________________________________
Tennessee and Cumberland rivers longitudinal and lateral movements
Principal Investigator – Andrea Fritts (UMESC), Mark Rogers (Tennessee Tech Coop Unit)
Silver Carp continue to expand their range in North American river basins, necessitating efforts to limit the spread with a combination of management actions. Within the Tennessee and Cumberland River Basin, locks and dams serve as bottlenecks that slow range expansion of invasive carps. Dams in the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers are high-head dams that restrict upstream passage to the lock chamber. These locations could play an integral control point for minimizing the spread of Silver Carp in the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and are possible candidate sites for deterrents. USGS researchers and State and Federal management agency partners are investigating how environmental variables and lock vessel traffic effect fish passage at focal locks and dams. Results from this study can provide insights into movement of invasive carps through high-head dams on large rivers and help to inform decisions on optimal management actions within river systems.
__________________________________________
Informing tailwater removal techniques for bigheaded carp
Principal Investigator – Andrea Fritts (UMESC), Jesse Fischer (CERC)
Invasive carp management in the Tennessee and Cumberland River Basin focuses on removal, and interest exists in extending removal efforts to tailwater environments of high-head locks and dams along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Aggregations of Silver Carp and Bighead Carp (collectively referred to as bigheaded carp) can spend substantial amounts of time in the tailwaters of high-head dams. Effectively targeting these large congregations of bigheaded carp for removal could contribute to management objectives to control spread and reduce impacts to native fishes. The objectives of this study are to determine what environmental factors influence when bigheaded carps are concentrated in tailwaters (e.g., season, temperatures, flows, water release regimes, etc.) and where in the tailwaters they reside in relation to flow and water releases to inform decisions on removal.
Invasive carp (Silver, Bighead, Grass, and Black Carp) continue to expand their range in North America, necessitating efforts to limit the spread and establishment of reproducing populations. Potential control measures include the installation of deterrents and targeted removals. Several key population bottlenecks occur at locks and dams in large rivers of North America, including locations on the Mississippi, Illinois, Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers. USGS scientists are using acoustic telemetry to investigate how invasive carp move at small and large spatial scales. A better understanding of the behavior of invasive carps and native species at strategic locks and dams can assist in the development of integrated management to protect high-value fisheries and ecosystems.
Upper Mississippi River longitudinal and lateral movements
Principal Investigator – Andrea Fritts
Dams on large rivers have profoundly affected patterns of fish movement and have disrupted natural flow regimes. In the upper Mississippi River, a series of 29 lock and dam structures control water levels and flow to facilitate commercial barge traffic and control flooding. Dams vary in the degree to which they regulate flow, with some dams commonly entering open-river conditions while a few dams are infrequently in open-river condition. Understanding how native and invasive fishes move through the navigation locks and dams on the upper Mississippi River is critical to help managers conserve native species and control invasive species. A network of agencies collaborates to maintain a large-scale acoustic telemetry array that stretches throughout the upper Mississippi River and its tributaries.
__________________________________________
Illinois River real-time telemetry and multi-state modeling
Principal Investigator – Marybeth Brey
This project supports goals and objectives of the Illinois River Monitoring and Response Work Group (MRWG) by (1) providing a real-time network of acoustic receivers to detect movements and alert key management partners of invasive carp movements beyond normal ranges (i.e., above Brandon Road Lock and Dam in the Des Plaines River), (2) coordinating partner efforts to maintain a passive 69-kHz acoustic receiver network and target numbers of Silver Carp and Bighead Carp in the Illinois and Des Plaines Rivers to support multi-state movement modeling to parameterize the SEICarP model or other population modeling efforts, (3) supporting quality assurance for the multi-agency telemetry data in the Riverine Acoustic Fish Telemetry (RAFT) database, and (4) developing, running, and publishing movement models for MRWG’s Telemetry Workgroup and Modeling Workgroup in support of population model development.
__________________________________________
Tennessee and Cumberland rivers longitudinal and lateral movements
Principal Investigator – Andrea Fritts (UMESC), Mark Rogers (Tennessee Tech Coop Unit)
Silver Carp continue to expand their range in North American river basins, necessitating efforts to limit the spread with a combination of management actions. Within the Tennessee and Cumberland River Basin, locks and dams serve as bottlenecks that slow range expansion of invasive carps. Dams in the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers are high-head dams that restrict upstream passage to the lock chamber. These locations could play an integral control point for minimizing the spread of Silver Carp in the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers and are possible candidate sites for deterrents. USGS researchers and State and Federal management agency partners are investigating how environmental variables and lock vessel traffic effect fish passage at focal locks and dams. Results from this study can provide insights into movement of invasive carps through high-head dams on large rivers and help to inform decisions on optimal management actions within river systems.
__________________________________________
Informing tailwater removal techniques for bigheaded carp
Principal Investigator – Andrea Fritts (UMESC), Jesse Fischer (CERC)
Invasive carp management in the Tennessee and Cumberland River Basin focuses on removal, and interest exists in extending removal efforts to tailwater environments of high-head locks and dams along the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. Aggregations of Silver Carp and Bighead Carp (collectively referred to as bigheaded carp) can spend substantial amounts of time in the tailwaters of high-head dams. Effectively targeting these large congregations of bigheaded carp for removal could contribute to management objectives to control spread and reduce impacts to native fishes. The objectives of this study are to determine what environmental factors influence when bigheaded carps are concentrated in tailwaters (e.g., season, temperatures, flows, water release regimes, etc.) and where in the tailwaters they reside in relation to flow and water releases to inform decisions on removal.