Michigan DNR Prepares to Fight Asian Carp
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.17.13
Sometimes preparation is more than half the battle. Field technicians from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) gathered in the St. Joesph River last week for a very important, and very hands-on training exercise. The exercise was meant to give the DNR agents further experience with how to survey and catch Asian carp, which do not yet exist in the Great Lakes. The Michigan DNR is not the only agency worried by the possibility of the invasive fish finding their way into the Great Lakes—the region provides upwards of $5 billion to neighboring states through commercial and sport fishing.
“The primary goal of the exercise was to be better prepared in the event that silver or bighead carp were ever introduced into the Great Lakes,” Lake Michigan Basin Coordinator Todd Kalish told OutdoorHub.
Silver and bighead carp are perhaps the most notorious of Asian carp, imported into the United States in the late ’60s and early ’70s for use in aquaculture. The fish quickly escaped into the Mississippi River and soon became well-established, much to the detriment of native species. Asian carp not only out-compete other fish, they also remain elusive to sport anglers hoping to catch them on rod and reel. Due to a low demand for their meat in the U.S., commercial fishermen have little incentive to target them either.
Asian carp are not polite when it comes to bumping valuable food and sport fish out of their native environments. A coalition of state and federal agencies is now sinking $6.5 million into a plan that would remove the fish from the Upper Illinois River, where Asian carp are besieging the Great Lakes. If the fish break through, the St. Joesph River is where they will end up.
“The prime reason why we chose the St. Joesph River is because that river is the first major watershed north of the the Chicago Area Waterway System, which is the most likely potential point of entry, and St. Joesph has suitable habitat for those fish,” Kalish said.
The two-day exercise covered techniques, such as electrofishing, and gear used elsewhere in the country.
“What we were looking for was the common carp or other indicator species such as buffalo or black carp,” said fisheries supervisor Chris Schelb. “We did a marking run where we marked fish and released them, and then we’d go back and catch as many marked fish as possible.”
Common carp have been in American waters a lot longer than silver or bighead carp. They also display traits similar to their less well-liked silver and bighead cousins, requiring similar fishing methods.
“We closed a two-mile section of the St. Joesph River, and within that two-mile section we conducted what we call an Early Detection Prudent Response exercise,” Kalish said. “It was a colossal effort because it was one of the first times when we had all of our field technicians in one spot.”
For two days, 30 field technicians traversed the St. Joesph River on 11 boats, looking for carp.
“We divided that two-mile section into four different zones,” Kalish explained. “Within each zone we tried different survey techniques. For example in one zone we used four electrofishing boats, in another zone we used electrofishing boats with gill nets. So we tested these methodologies to catch common carp.”
Although the department is still analyzing the data, Kalish says that plain electrofishing seems to produce the best results. He added that although it was hard to say how likely it is for Asian carp to breach the Great Lakes, training in these methods will make sure the DNR is adequately prepared if the fish do arrive.
When asked if the drill produced positive results, Schelb responded with an encouraging yes.
“All in all our efforts were a success,” he said.
