Informing tailwater removal techniques for bigheaded carp

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.