invasive carp – Aquarius-Systems

Over 50 Invasive Carp Captured on Mississippi River

Wed, 19 Jan 2022 18:20:08 +0000

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is conducting an immediate response to the capture of 51 invasive carp on the Mississippi River. The invasive carp were caught by two commercial fishing operators near La Crosse and Trempealeau, Wisconsin, during routine spring netting in March.

When the commercial fishing operator operating near La Crosse saw what he thought were invasive carp, he contacted the DNR. The DNR invasive carp field crew assisted in removing and identifying the fish. The DNR identified 39 silver carp and 11 grass carp caught in Pool 8 of the Mississippi, just south of La Crosse, and one silver carp caught in Pool 6, about 20 miles farther upstream. All invasive carp recovered have been given to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to determine their age, size and gender.

Previous captures of invasive carp in Minnesota have been individuals or small numbers of fish. This capture indicates an increase in the abundance of invasive carp in the Pool 8 portion of the river between Minnesota and Wisconsin.

Robots and Electric Tech Take on Invasive Aquatic Species

Wed, 31 May 2017 21:00:03 +0000

In the fight against alien animals that invade and overrun native species, the weird and the wired sometime win.

Invasive species are plants and animals that thrive in areas where they don’t naturally live, usually brought there by humans, either accidentally or intentionally. Sometimes, with no natural predators, they multiply and take over, crowding out and at times killing native species.

A new underwater robot is targeting the stunning but dangerous lionfish. The robot, called Guardian LF1, uses a gentle shock to immobilize the lionfish before they are sucked alive into a tube. In its first public outing this month, the robot caught 15 lionfish during two days of testing in Bermuda. Top chefs competed in a cook-off of the captured lionfish which sells for nearly $10 a pound.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife officials are using souped-up old technology to catch Asian carp, a fish that’s taken over rivers and lakes in the Midwest. They use a specialized boat – the Magna Carpa – with giant winglike nets that essentially uses electric current as an underwater taser to stun the fish, said biologist Emily Pherigo. At higher doses, the fish are killed and float to the surface. In just five minutes, they can collect 500 fish, and later turn them into fertilizer.
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Carbon Dioxide Could Keep Asian Carp out of Great Lakes

Tue, 05 Jul 2016 23:00:00 +0000

In a research pond in La Crosse, Wisconsin, scientists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and U.S. Geological Survey are testing the effectiveness of a new strategy to ward off an Asian carp invasion that’s threatening the health of the Great Lakes, including Lake Michigan.

The study called for placing a carbon dioxide infusion system on one side of the pond that withdrew water, treating it with high levels of carbon dioxide and then pumping that carbon dioxide-rich water back into the pond. Results showed that silver carp and bighead carp, two different species of Asian carp, avoided water treated with carbon dioxide as did native fish such as bigmouth buffalo, channel catfish and yellow perch. However researchers are puzzled as to why the paddlefish did not avoid the area.

Adding carbon dioxide to the water is indicative of poor habitat causing the fish to swim away and look for more oxygen. The carbon dioxide lowers the water’s pH, making it more acidic.

If adding carbon dioxide to the water does go into a real-world setting, it would deter the movement of all fish species, so that’s something that needs to be considered before it moves to a field application.

Read More https://afspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1080/00028487.2016.1143397

Invasive Carp Are Destroying Malheur Lake’s Bird Habitat

Fri, 05 Jun 2015 14:14:39 +0000

Introduced to Malheur Lake as early as the 1920s, likely as a food source for people living in the arid region, the invasive carp have now taken over the lake.

Historically, Malheur Lake was utilized by up to 35% of the Pacific Flyway’s canvasback population, was the second most important redhead production site in the West, and at its peak produced, over 100,000 ducklings annually. Currently the refuge has only 5-10 percent of the productive bird habitat it provided before carp were introduced.

The estimated carp population in the refuge has grown into the millions. The carp sift through the mud searching for insects and aquatic plants to eat; uprooting plants and creating silt plumes in the process. Malheur Lake is void of the plants that provide food, shelter, and nesting grounds for waterfowl and other migratory birds.

Chemical treatments, barriers and traps, and water management have been used in an attempt to eradicate the carp. Unfortunately they only resulted in very short term habitat improvements, and the carp continue to return.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has entered into an agreement with Silver Sage Fisheries and Nutrient Company to catch and process invasive carp. The company would eventually like to use the carp as a food product or fish oil, but it currently has its sights set on turning them into fertilizer.

During a trial using fishing nets, fishermen caught more than 40,000 pounds of carp. The test project is expected to cost $500,000 the first year. The carp removed from the Lake will be processed into organic fertilizer for application on nearby organic croplands.