Midwest Fish & Wildlife Conference 2018

AUTHORS. Charmayne Anderson, Jim Lamer- Western Illinois University; Brent Knights, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, US Geological Survey; Jun Wang, Shanghai Ocean University; Levi Solomon, Andy Casper - Illinois River Biological Station, Illinois Natural History Survey

ABSTRACT. Silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) have invaded most of the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Although fish age is routinely used to inform management decisions, aging structures for bighead and silver carp have not been validated against known-age fish to ensure accuracy and utility. We used known-age fish reared in Chinese aquaculture and collected from the LaGrange Reach of the Illinois River (tracked annually from a strong 2014-year class) to validate aging structures from silver carp. We removed vertebrae, lapillus otoliths, pectoral spines, and postcleithra from each individual. Each structure was sectioned and prepared accordingly. Annuli were counted and each annulus measured from the focus using Leica S8APO Stereoscope and measuring software to determine back-calculated growth. By using both field and aquaculture reared individuals we are able to validate several silver carp aging structures and determine the most reliable structure for age, back-calculated age, and growth estimates.

AUTHORS. Cory Anderson, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Kjetil Henderson, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Rebecca Neeley, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

ABSTRACT. Juvenile silver (Hypopthalmichthys molotrix) and bighead (H. nobilis) carp represent a major threat to breaching the Electric Dispersal Barrier by upstream movement or passive entrainment via barge. While much data exists on habitat use of adult silver and bighead carp, little exists for juveniles, making monitoring and removal efforts difficult. Most efforts targeting juvenile silver carp have focused on backwaters where current sampling gears are most effective. During 2016, 75 juvenile silver carp (mean TL = 246.7mm) were tagged in the Peoria reach of the Illinois River using acoustic tags. Stationary hydrophones were deployed to monitor tagged fish. Large shallow areas of the Peoria reach caused poor detection ability and subsequently little data was gathered. Data from 2016 indicated mean weekly movement of 0.14 to 0.69km. Main channel habitats were used by tagged silver carp 55% of the time, which was higher than expected. In the summer and fall of 2017, both radio and acoustic tags were implanted into juvenile silver carp (n = 150). Stationary hydrophones and radio monitoring stations have been deployed to passively monitor tagged fish, and are supplemented with active monitoring via boat. Water conditions such as river flow velocity, temperature, and depths in each habitat area are being monitored to test for correlations with movement of tagged fish. Preliminary results indicate movement of juvenile carp is much higher than expected as fish are moving in and out of different habitat areas. The results of this study will increase the knowledge and ability to effectively target juvenile Asian carp during sampling efforts. 

AUTHORS. Chelsea Center, Western Illinois University; James T. Lamer, Western Illinois University; Andrew T. Mathis, Western Illinois University; Brent Knights, United States Geological Survey; Kevin Irons, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

ABSTRACT. Monitoring the spread of Asian carp has been a priority since their introduction and particularly important in the last decade as efforts to prevent them from entering Lake Michigan gained momentum.  Monitoring movement using acoustic tags (manual tracking and stationary receivers) provided a wealth of information to understand Asian carp behavior.  The advent of satellite telemetry and real-time, satellite-linked GPS tags can complement current acoustic efforts by tracking multiple individuals at once without the man hour investment needed to accomplish the same goal using other technologies.  Seven Asian carp (two bighead carp and five silver carp) were tagged with real-time GPS transmitters in the Dresden Reach of the Upper Illinois River between August 3 and August 30, 2017.  The data is accessed through an end user interface and the initial trial indicates several trends. Six of the fish remained in the lower 6 km of the 24 km long reach. Five fish also spent time in the Kankakee River near its convergence with the Illinois River. Over a 24-hour period, one of the silver carp traveled approximately 15 km from the lower end of the reach to a hotspot identified through acoustic tracking.  A total of 173 useable points have been collected from the seven tags.  Real-time GPS tags could be a useful tool to identify real-time aggregations to inform contracted removal on the water, identify habitat use, spawning and feeding locations, and inform management efforts.

AUTHORS. Cortney Cox, James Lamer, Allison Lenaerts - Western Illinois University; Brent Knights, US Geological Survey; Kevin Irons, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

ABSTRACT. Fish age and growth can be used to infer spawning success, recruitment and population age structure. Understanding these dynamics are especially important when assessing the impacts and management options of invasive species. Bighead and silver carp are invasive species that have established throughout much of the Mississippi River Basin, but their spread into the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) has been restricted by Lock and Dam 19 at Keokuk, IA.  Aging structures obtained from this population above Lock and Dam 19 allow us to determine growth rates and age-at-maturity in this emerging, poorly understood, low-density population. We have collected length and weight data from adult silver carp (n=4912) and bighead carp (n=1269) captured with commercial fishing methods (i.e., gill nets and seines). Pectoral spines, post-cleithra, and vertebrae have been removed from 1229 Asian carp, 30 fish per 50mm size class, to quantify age and growth in pools 16-19 on the Mississippi River. Ages and back calculated growth will be used to better understand spawning success, recruitment and population age structure to inform control and containment actions. Growth in pools 16-19 is similar amongst the pools, possibly a result of Asian carp movement amongst them. However, these fish show significantly higher growth rates than the fish of the much denser population of pool 20, below Lock and Dam 19.

AUTHORS. Allison Lenaerts, James Lamer, Cortney Cox, Boone La Hood - Western Illinois University; Kevin Irons, Illinois Department of Natural Resources

ABSTRACT. Invasive silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molitrix) and bighead carp (H. nobilis) are abundant throughout most of the Mississippi River Basin and are very prolific spawners. Asian carp abundance in the Mississippi River above Lock and Dam 19 is low relative to reaches below the dam. Understanding the reproductive potential (i.e., gonadalsomatic index (GSI) and fecundity) of these low density, poorly understood populations is important to inform Asian carp management in the Upper Mississippi River.  We examined and compared GSI of silver carp (females: n= 261, males: n= 430) and bighead carp (females: n= 99, males: n= 235) among pools 17-20 of the Mississippi River with stage IV ovaries. Eggs were removed from three locations in one ovary per fish (silver carp, n=155 and bighead carp, n= 76), counted, and weighted to estimate fecundity. Bighead and silver male GSI is not significantly different between pools. Female silver carp GSI is significantly higher in leading edge populations and decreases as densities increases downstream, Pools 17 ?19 (p=0.000), Pools 17 ?20 (p=0.000), and Pools 18 ? 20 (p=0.001). Bighead carp females have a significantly higher GSI in Pool 18 than Pool 20 (p=.0213). Silver carp averaged 794 eggs/g (sd=137.39, se±11), and bighead carp averaged 468 eggs/g (sd=122.56, se±14) across all pools. Differences in GSI may reflect a release from density dependent factors within the leading edge. Lower densities may allow for more allocation of resources to gonadal growth versus somatic growth above Lock and Dam 19. 

AUTHORS. Charmayne Anderson, Jim Lamer, Cortney Cox - Department of Biological Sciences, Western Illinois University; Greg Whitledge, Neil Rude - Department of Zoology, Southern Illinois University; Brent Knights, Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, US Geological Survey

ABSTRACT. Asian carp are an invasive species in the US and have spread throughout most of the Mississippi River Basin.  Expansion above Lock and Dam 19 on the Upper Mississippi River has been impeded by the high head dam at this location, which restricts all passage to the lock chamber.  To determine the extent of reproduction and recruitment above LD19 and to determine the relative contribution of tributaries and other habitats above and below the dam to the upper UMR populations, we used stable isotope otolith (lapillus) microchemistry on 150 bighead carp (75 male, 75 female) and 150 silver carp (75 male, 75 female) collected from Pools 16-19 in the Upper Mississippi River.  Fish isotope (d18O) and elemental ratios (Sr:Ca and Ba:Ca) were compared to established water isotope and elemental ratios throughout the basin to understand the spatial and temporal history of each fish.  Mixed natal environments above and below LD19 were observed with more than 70% of silver carp and bighead carp collected from Pools 17 and 18 had natal environments below LD19. We hope to use this as a tool to monitor the effectiveness of removal efforts and monitor reproduction above LD19.

AUTHORS. Cory Anderson, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Rebekah Anderson, Illinois Natural History Survey; James Lamer, Western Illinois University; Eli Lampo, Western Illinois University; Neil Gillespie, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; James Larson, U.S. Geological Survey; Brent Knights, U.S. Geological Survey; Jon Vallazza, U.S. Geological Survey; Levi Solomon, Illinois Natural History Survey; Rich Pendleton, New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation; Andrew Casper, Illinois Natural History Survey; Nerissa McClelland, Illinois Department of Natural Resources; Jun Wang, Shanghai Ocean University

ABSTRACT.  The increasing abundance of silver carp (Hypophthalmichthys molotrix) and bighead carp (H. nobilis) in the Illinois River has raised questions about how native predator diets are changing due to Asian carp invasion. During the summer of 2014, a large Asian carp spawning event was observed on the Illinois River which provided an opportunity to determine how piscivorous fish (n=1527) were responding to high densities of juvenile Asian carp. Native predators were collected from the LaGrange Reach of the Illinois River (3 August through 8 November 2014) using pulsed-DC boat electrofishing. Diet contents were quantified visually then genetically, using next generation sequencing at six universal barcode loci (16s, 12s, COI, and CytB domains). Our results revealed that juvenile Asian carp were found in more than 20% (frequency of occurrence) of diets from: shortnose gar (Lepisosteus platostomus), white bass (Morone chrysops), black crappie (Pomoxis nigromaculatus), channel catfish (Ictalurus puncatus), smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu), largemouth bass (M. salmoides), white crappie (P. annularis), yellow perch (Perca flavescens), flathead catfish (Pylodictis olivaris), and freshwater drum (Applodinotus grunniens). Predators analyzed throughout the sampling period foraged most heavily on juvenile Asian carp during the first month of this study, immediately after the spawning event, but switched to other prey over time. Ivlev’s electivity indicated a preference for juvenile Asian carp over native prey fish for several predator species. Additionally, smaller white bass had a greater probability of foraging on juvenile Asian carp and consumed higher counts than the larger white bass, consistent with optimum foraging theory. Results of this study indicate a possibility for a biological control of Asian carp by using native predators.

AUTHORS. Scott F. Collins, David H. Wahl - Illinois Natural History Survey

ABSTRACT. Resource subsidies are the input of energy, nutrients, and organisms that directly alter pools of resources within a recipient habitat. In contrast, process subsidies arise when the feeding or behaviors of a mobile organism affect process rates within the recipient habitat.  Using salmon carcasses as a model resource subsidy and Asian carp as model process subsidy, two experiments were conducted to explore the complex direct and indirect pathways through which these subsidy classifications influence linkages between aquatic and terrestrial environments.  Salmon carcasses increased resident trout production through multiple pathways including bottom-up (algae, insects), direct consumption, and reciprocal inputs of adult and larval carrion flies.  These subsidized predators cropped benthic insect larvae, reducing their emergence as adults, and indirectly reduced riparian insectivores, indicating strong subsidy effects can spillover to other habitats, however responses are not always positive. Strong consumptive effects of bighead carp reduced filamentous algae and zooplankton within pelagic habitats.  Consequently, egested materials shunted organic matter from pelagic to benthic habitats, where Chironomidae emergence increased, resulting in a greater flux of organic matter from aquatic to terrestrial habitats.  In each study, the effects these mobile fishes reverberated through aquatic-terrestrial habitats, highlighting the importance fishes in linked ecosystems.

AUTHORS. Jeremy Hammen, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office; Emily Pherigo, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office; Jason Breeggemann, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Green Bay Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office; Pablo Oleiro, Missouri Department of Conservation; Jeena Credico, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, La Crosse Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office; Jason Goeckler, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office; Wyatt Doyle, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Columbia Fish & Wildlife Conservation Office

ABSTRACT. Silver carp are an invasive riverine species that were introduced to the United States in the 1970’s and have expanded throughout the Greater Mississippi River basin.  This expansion is a direct threat to native fish species that inhabit these systems as well as impacts recreation.  Management and monitoring of Silver Carp has been difficult due to the inability to effectively capture them.  Two novel trawling techniques (electrified dozer trawl and electrified butterfly trawl) have been developed with the potential to increase catch rates over a wide range of size classes.  These two novel trawling techniques were compared to traditional electrofishing methods currently being used for management and monitoring of Asian carp.  The electrified butterfly trawl and electrified dozer trawl had 5x and 2x greater Silver Carp catch rates than traditional electrofishing, respectively.  Small (

AUTHORS. Josey Ridgway, Emily Pherigo, Wyatt Doyle, Jason Goeckler, Kevin Drews, Ryan Long - U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

ABSTRACT. To reduce the number of Asian carp downstream of the electric dispersal barrier on the Illinois River, mass removal efforts, referred to as barrier defense, are coordinated spring through late fall in the Starved Rock and Marseilles pools by Illinois Department of Natural Resources.  The USFWS Columbia Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (FWCO) has participated in these efforts using an electrified butterfly trawl which captures a wide size range of Asian carp from a variety of habitat types.  In 2016, the Columbia FWCO fished 16 days and removed 11,103 Silver Carp at a rate of 707 Silver Carp/electrotrawling hour.  In an effort to increase removal efficiency, daily operations (i.e., gear set-up/take-down, searching for fish, electrotrawling time, emptying nets, and gear repair) were tracked and assessed in 2017.  With the addition of a tender boat, mechanical winches, and other improvements, Silver Carp catch rates increased to 2,129 Silver Carp/electrotrawling hour.  In terms of labor hours, approximately 62 Silver Carp per labor hour were removed in 2016 whereas approximately 91 Silver Carp/labor hour were removed in 2017.  Current results indicate majority of time (~35%) is spent removing fish from nets.  Mechanisms to reduce handling fish are in development which includes upgrading net cods and adding winches to the tender boat.  In conclusion, this assessment will improve efficiency of the electrified butterfly trawl to mass remove Asian carp and progress the management and control of these invasive species in Midwestern waters.