Development of an Aquatic Nuisance Species Dispersal Barrier

Tag retention and survival of juvenile bighead carp implanted with a dummy acoustic tag at three temperatures

“…This data could contribute to the knowledge of habitat and movement preferences as juveniles (Johnson, Hintz, James, Phelps, & Tripp, ), as well as improving assessment of invasive potential by evaluating the ability of juvenile bigheaded carps to avoid or pass through obstacles previously assumed to be barriers. Acoustic telemetry of juvenile bigheaded carps would be especially beneficial to track movements in areas near electric barriers installed to guard against the spread of bigheaded carps (Moy, Polls, & Dettmers, ), because small fish are not as affected by electric fields (Holliman, ; Holliman, Killgore, & Shea, ). Recent technological advances in telemetry transmitters has increased the availability of tags sufficiently small enough to implant in juvenile fish (Ashton et al, ; Hockersmith et al, ; Thompson, Gwinn, & Allen, ).…”

Recruitment sources of invasive Bighead carp (Hypopthalmichthys nobilis) and Silver carp (H. molitrix) inhabiting the Illinois River

“…Electric barriers installed in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (Moy et al 2011) currently represent the primary line of defense for limiting the potential of bigheaded carps to invade Lake Michigan from the Illinois River watershed. However, electric barriers may not be 100% effective for deterring Bighead and Silver carps; environmental DNA from these species has been detected in the Chicago waterways above the barriers and in Lake Michigan Mahon et al 2011), and a live Bighead Carp was captured from Lake Calumet (on the Lake Michigan side of the barriers) in June 2010.…”

Thermal and hydrologic suitability of Lake Erie and its major tributaries for spawning of Asian carps

“…In 2009 and2010, environmental DNA (eDNA) from silver carp and bighead carp was detected in water samples on the Great Lakes side of the electric barrier (Jerde et al, 2011) and an adult bighead carp was captured on the Great Lakes side of the barrier in Lake Calumet in 2010 (USGS, 2011). Grass carp have been captured in all of the Laurentian Great Lakes except Lake Superior, and many grass carp have been captured in the CSSC and in the Chicago Area Waterways System, on the Great Lakes side of the electric barrier, where they have been present since at least 1990 (USGS, 2011) more than ten years before the barrier was constructed (Moy et al, 2011). The other two high-risk waterway connections are at the headwaters of the Wabash River, a tributary to the Ohio River, and the Maumee River, the second largest tributary to Lake Erie.…”

“…The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) is an artificial aquatic link between the Mississippi River Basin and the Great Lakes Basin, and it has been an invasion pathway for round gobies Neogobius melanostomus and dreissenid mussels (Dreissena spp.) from the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River basin (Moy et al, 2011). The electric barrier system on the CSSC and a fence between the Des Plaines River and the CSSC currently prevent adult fish from swimming to the Great Lakes, but the barrier may not be effective at preventing passage of juveniles.…”