Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee Releases 2023 Invasive Carp Action Plan
April 6, 2023
Contact: Tim Patronski, Tim_Patronski@fws.gov, (612) 418-9148
The Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee is pleased to announce the release of its 2023 Invasive Carp Action Plan, a comprehensive portfolio of more than 50 projects focused on Great Lakes protection. The action plan serves as a foundation for the work of the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee partnership, a collaboration of 26 U.S. and Canadian federal, state, provincial, tribal, regional and local agencies.
The 2023 Invasive Carp Action Plan, funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and annual agency appropriations, includes an array of invasive carp detection, prevention and control projects focused within key geographic areas of risk. Additionally, the action plan incorporates projects centered on the development and testing of new technologies, support for partnership coordination and comprehensive stakeholder communication. Activities include aggressive efforts to reduce populations of bighead and silver carp along established fronts, large-scale field trials of potential invasive carp deterrent technologies and actions to address black and grass carp threats.
The 2023 Invasive Carp Action Plan supports key initiatives including:
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-led Brandon Road Lock and Dam Aquatic Nuisance Species Barrier Project in Will County, Illinois, in collaboration with the states of Illinois and Michigan. The Brandon Road project will incorporate a layered system of structural and non-structural control measures to prevent invasive carp from moving upstream into the Great Lakes.
- Upgrades to sections of the earthen berm at Little Killbuck Creek in northern Ohio led by Ohio Department of Natural Resources. The location was identified as a hydrologic connection between the Mississippi River and the Lake Erie watersheds during high- water events. The project initiates closure of this interbasin pathway for aquatic invasive species.
- Continued operation of the electric dispersal barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System.
- Large-scale field testing and development of new technologies to block invasive carp migration, including underwater sound, known as acoustics, and carbon dioxide deterrent barriers. The U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are leading these efforts with assistance from partner agencies.
- Efforts by Illinois Department of Natural Resources to increase the use of focused commercial fishing to remove adult invasive carp in the upper Illinois River in support of population reduction goals and to reduce the risk of upstream expansion.
- Continued efforts led by Ohio and Michigan Departments of Natural Resources to remove grass carp in Lake Erie, with support from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, Great Lakes Fishery Commission, and other partners. Also planned are additional grass carp monitoring efforts in lakes Ontario, Huron and Michigan.
- Continued support for state-led efforts in basin-wide early detection monitoring and contingency response actions.
The activities supported through the Action Plan incorporate the most current strategies and advances in science and technology for invasive carp prevention and control, and support the goals and recommendations of the national Management and Control Plan for Bighead, Black, Grass, and Silver Carps in the United States.
For more information on the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee and to access the 2023 Invasive Carp Action Plan, please visit www.invasivecarp.us.
The ICRCC is a bi-national partnership of 26 U.S. and Canadian federal, state, provincial, tribal and local agencies and organizations with the mission of preventing the introduction and establishment of invasive carp in the Great Lakes.