Asian Carp

Underwater sound technology is being field tested as a tool for herding and deterring Bighead carp, and is being used in combination with fish netting activities to maximize control efforts. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an effective deterrent of Asian carp and USGS is currently working with partners to field test methods for elevating CO2 levels in water to deter Asian carp range expansion. USGS also has extensive capabilities in Asian carp biology and life history research that have led to development of models, tools and strategies to better understand the risk of Asian carp establishment and survival. One risk assessment tool is the Fluvial Egg Drift Simulator that incorporates egg and larval temperature-dependent development rates for Bighead, Silver and Grass carp with water temperature and flow conditions to predict where Asian carp are likely to spawn and where eggs and larvae will likely be located after a spawning event.

USGS Science and Technology Help Managers Battle Invading Asian Carp: A Geonarrative

Learn more about how the USGS is helping battle Asian carp by scrolling through this geonarrative, also known as a story map.

More information about Asian carp research is available from the links below.

Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Science

Increased threat of Asian carp entering the Great Lakes and spreading to other basins such as the Upper Mississippi River and Ohio River basins, has led to increased prevention and control efforts since 2010.

• Asian Carp Early Detection
  In collaboration with partners, USGS scientists are testing early detection methods and technologies to enhance the ability of agencies to manage Asian carp to minimize their influence and spread.

• Asian Carp Risk Assessment and Life History
  USGS Asian carp biology and life history research has led to the development of models, tools and strategies to better understand the risk of Asian carp establishment and survival.

• Asian Carp Integrated Control and Containment
  Successful management of invasive species requires methods to contain future spread, reduce population levels, and minimize their effects.  In collaboration with partners, USGS scientists have developed and continue to test containment and control tools and technologies, and investigate options for combined implementation of tools using an integrated adaptive management approach.

Wetland and Aquatic Research Center Science 

• Determining the Ploidy and Resultant Reproductive Capability of Artificially Spawned and Wild Caught Asian Carp
  The invasive grass carp and black carp are artificially spawned to produce triploids, which means they have three sets of chromosomes and are sterile. WARC scientists invented an early ploidy prediction process for produced fry, and a post-mortem assessment method for carp caught either in the wild or sold and hauled live to other states. 

• Developing Detection Probabilities and Quantifying the Effects of Flowing Water to Improve Asian Carp Environmental DNA (eDNA) Surveys
  Invasive Asian carp are problematic for native species, and managers are implementing control measures without well-quantified detection limits or a means to assess the accuracy and precision of existing or future survey data for the fish. Environmental DNA - eDNA - is already used to detect the presence of invasive species, and can be used to identify locations to focus carp control efforts. 

• Genetic Analysis of Wild and Captive Black Carp in the Mississippi River Basin
  Black carp have likely been present in the Mississippi River since the 1990s, but their current distribution and spread is not well understood. Genetics is helping to shed light on this species, including its diversity, the relatedness of wild and captive fish, and its introduction history. 

Upper Midwest Environmental Science Center Science

• Development of Chemical Tools to Control Asian Carp and Dreissenid Mussels
  Presently, there is no method to control dreissenid mussels (e.g., zebra or quagga) or Asian carp in aquatic systems without attempting total remediation of that system, resulting in the death of all fish and likely all mussels within that aquatic system.

• Evaluation of a broadband sound as a deterrent for bigheaded carps at the Emiquon Preserve (Lewistown, Illinois)
  Expansion of bigheaded carps Hypophthalmichthys spp. throughout North American waterways have prompted the need for control systems that can alter their movement and/or behavior. The avoidance response of bigheaded carps to the sound of an outboard motor (0.06-10 kHz) has lead researchers to investigate sound as a means to manipulate their movements. 

• Carbon dioxide (CO^₂) injected under-ice to enhance winterkill of invasive carps
  Ongoing research at UMESC is assessing the efficacy of CO² injected under-ice to reduce the overwinter survival of invasive carps. If effective, CO² may provide managers with an inexpensive and safe tool to mitigate Asian carp populations in areas of concern.

• Evaluating the behavioral response of silver and bighead carp to CO² across three temperatures
  The effects of temperature on CO² deterrence efficacy has not been assessed. For that reason, we are conducting this study to determine if temperature alters the efficacy of CO₂ to deter juvenile silver carp and bighead carp.

• Field Evaluation of Microparticles
  With this study, we will validate the use of microparticles to selectively deliver a control agent to feral bigheaded carps.

• Screening toxic compounds using cellular assays
  Because of the negative impacts that invasive carp species have on aquatic ecosystems, a method of eliminating or controlling them would be highly valued by aquatic resource managers. Chemical control is an option that is routinely employed to control invasive species.

• Use of antimycin-microparticles and alfalfa to control Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella
  Currently, the only way of chemically controlling fish populations is with a broad spectrum piscicide, which is undesirable because of the effects on non-target species. The use of a carrier may significantly increase the specificity of the piscicide to grass carp.

• Application of broadband sound for bigheaded carp deterrence
  Both silver and bighead carp are sensitive to higher frequency sound than many native fish and silver carp exhibit a unique jumping behavior in response to outboard motors, suggesting an aversion to high frequency sound. While control methods such as electricity and bubble barriers are better studied (5, 6), few studies have investigated the response of these fish to sound. 

• Bioacoustic manipulation of invasive Bigheaded carp
  The goal of this project is to investigate the sensory biology of bigheaded carp and determine if sound stimuli can be used to deter and guide the movement of both bighead and silver carp in captivity and in the field. An additional goal is to assess if there are negative impacts of sound stimuli on native fish populations

• Assessment of carbon dioxide as barrier to Bigheaded carp
  A large-scale pond trial to assess behavioral response of bighead carp, silver carp and non-target fishes (bigmouth buffalo, channel catfish, paddlefish and yellow perch) has been completed. Results from this trial demonstrated that all fish avoided the area where CO₂was injected until the pond was saturated.

• Determination of the Acute Toxicity of Model-based Candidate Chemical Toxicants to Native and Nonnative Fish Species in Static Exposures
  The models created at UMESC were used to predict toxicity to three fish species:  rainbow trout, bluegill sunfish, and fathead minnow because data to support these models were both available and provided more extensive statistical analysis. Data on the toxicity of chemicals to the bighead carp and silver carp are lacking so it isn’t possible to develop models to predict chemical toxicity.  Because of the lack of data, bigheaded carps are treated as Cyprinids, which are modeled using the fathead minnow data.

• Developing a portable LAMP assay for detecting grass and black carp
  We have developed and validated a portable kit that uses LAMP to detect bigheaded carps in bait tanks. This kit is currently in use by law enforcement in three states to help stop the spread of bigheaded carps, and the development of another assay to detect grass and black carp would expand their capacity to help stop the spread of these invasive species as well.

• Use of antimycin-microparticles and corn feed to control Common Carp Cyprinus carpio
  Common carp can be conditioned to aggregate in selected areas of lakes to selectively consume corn. This would create opportunities for developing carp-specific antimycin delivery systems. Because all post-larval stages of carp share similar diet, different size pellets could be used to target different life stages of carp.

• Correlating seasonal trends and occupancy of bigheaded carp eDNA to land use and stream characteristics
  The results of this study will advance our understanding of environmental DNA (eDNA) and how eDNA signatures change as fish behavior changes over the course of the open water season. 

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