Results of Asian carp barge entrainment field trials released

April 3, 2020

Contact:
Katie Steiger-Meister, katie_steiger-meister@fws.gov, 612-723-4839

A barge traveling through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Photo courtesy of USFWS.

On April 3, 2020 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released the results of the 2018 Asian carp barge entrainment field trials. The results of the research illustrate that there is a potential for small Asian carp to be inadvertently trapped and transported by commercial barge tows through upstream lock chambers. The 2018 field trials were completed using three species of live small Asian carp including silver carp, bighead carp and grass carp. Work was completed in the La Grange and Peoria pools of the Illinois Waterway in Illinois where self-sustaining populations of Asian carp are already established.

“We’ve learned a lot about fish-barge interactions since this work began in 2012,” said U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Great Lakes Regional Director, Charlie Wooley. “Now that we understand this vulnerability we are better equipped to work with our federal, state and maritime industry partners to find a solution.”

The Service will continue to work with partners to assess potential options for mitigating the unintentional upstream introduction of Asian carp due to the trapping, or entrainment, of Asian carp by commercial barge tows moving through navigation pools where Asian carp are established.

Read the complete report Asian Carp Entrainment, Retainment and Upstream Transport by Commercial Barge Tows on the Illinois Waterway – 2018 Trials