 The plan details over $6.5 million of monitoring, sampling and
response activities to be conducted by multiple members of the Asian
Carp Regional Coordinating Committee. The plan outlines actions for
the current field season, focused on monitoring and removal of Asian
carp in the Chicago Area Waterway System and upper Illinois River;
and ongoing evaluations of the effectiveness of barriers and gears
used in keeping Asian carp from establishing in the CAWS and Lake
Michigan.
"This year's Monitoring and Response Plan will focus on expanding
those actions that have achieved tangible results. Over the past
three seasons we have removed over 1.3 million pounds of Asian carp
from the Upper Illinois River well below the electric barriers. We
believe removal efforts are working to reduce Asian carp populations
in Illinois, thanks to the hard work and dedication of our
biologists, commercial fishermen and our ACRCC partners," said
Illinois Department of Natural Resources Director Marc Miller.
The 2013 plan continues intensive fish population sampling in the
CAWS to watch closely for the potential presence of live Asian carp,
including two intense sampling events later this year. In 2012, over
100,000 fish were netted and identified with no Asian carp found
between the electric barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
and Lake Michigan. The 2013 plan also continues sampling for Asian
carp environmental DNA, known as eDNA, as a monitoring and
surveillance tool; however, eDNA will no longer be used as a trigger
for immediate rapid response actions until the scientific
significance of results can be further refined.
In 2012 three response actions were triggered by positive eDNA
detections in the CAWS, with two additional actions implemented as a
precautionary measure to eDNA presence. These intense sampling
events totaled more than 1,600 hours of surveillance over 27 miles
of the CAWS, using 18.4 miles of gill and trammel nets and 59 hours
of electrofishing. These efforts resulted in no bighead or silver
carp being seen or captured. These eDNA "triggered" events were in
addition to the over 7,500 hours of sampling by ACRCC crews in the
CAWS in 2012 with no bighead or silver carp seen or captured above
the electric barriers.
"The (Fish and Wildlife) Service has been an active partner in
this tremendous effort since day one," said Charlie Wooley, deputy
regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest.
"The 2013 Monitoring and Response Plan represents the highest level
of cooperation for the benefit of the American public in the fight
against Asian carp. The Service is proud to again offer our
technical assistance in the coordinated monitoring and sampling
efforts taking place this field season."
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"This robust, interagency program to assess the location and
abundance of Asian carp is just one important component of the
Corps' prevention strategy and helps us in making effective electric
barrier operation decisions," said Col. Frederic A. Drummond Jr.,
Chicago District commander with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
"At the end of this year, we will be providing Congress a Great
Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study Report that outlines a
range of options and technologies to prevent the inter-basin
transfer of aquatic nuisance species between the Great Lakes and
Mississippi River basins by aquatic pathways."
The 2013 Monitoring and Response Plan also is accompanied by an
Interim Summary Report, MRWG 2012, containing preliminary results
and analysis of actions completed for each of the 18 projects
described in the 2011 plan. The interim report includes
recommendations for modifications and enhancements to project plans
based on past results and experiences from the 2012 plan.
In addition to several reoccurring
actions from last year, new actions in the 2013 plan are:
-
Monitoring and sampling efforts
below the electric barriers will be increased, while continuing
to conduct electrofishing at fixed and random sampling sites
upstream of the barriers on a more limited basis.
-
Two planned eDNA sampling trips
above the electric barriers will be conducted in 2013.
Additionally, two planned intensive monitoring events for live
Asian carp will be conducted throughout the CAWS. These
monitoring events will be done in coordination with eDNA
sampling.
- Testing of water guns and other control technologies (carbon
dioxide, attractants and fish toxicants) will be undertaken to
assess the effectiveness and impacts.
This year's plan was developed by the Asian Carp Monitoring and
Response Workgroup and has been reviewed by technical experts, Great
Lakes state's natural resource agencies and nongovernmental
organizations. The plan targets the Upper Illinois River and Chicago
Area Waterway System, the Asian carp pathway of greatest concern.
For more information and to read the plan, visit
www.asiancarp.us.
[Text from
Illinois Department of
Natural Resources
file received from
the
Illinois Office of
Communication and Information] |
