Browse Projects

Following their accidental introduction in the 1980s, Asian carps are invasive taxa in the Mississippi basin, including the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers. Thus, it is an imperative research goal to better understand fish passage, movement behavior, and habitat use of these fishes. These data will inform future efforts to mitigate the economic and ecological impacts of bigheaded carp invasion. The TNCR Invasive Carp Partnership will collect fish passage data via acoustic telemetry to understand transition rates between reservoirs and/or pools. This research will allow us to refine transition rates of invasive carp populations in the Tennessee, Cumberland, and lower Ohio Rivers, with emphasis on the effects of deterrents and harvest to control invasive carp populations in the TNCR.

Harvest is the primary management strategy for invasive carp, however, especially in low to medium density populations, efficient harvest can be challenging. Although passive acoustic telemetry systems can help guide management efforts, telemetry application is typically spatially and temporally limited, whereas GPS satellite tags offer real-time positioning to increase efficiency and effectiveness of harvest. The objective of our study is to evaluate GPS tagged Silver Carp and use of drones to guide and increase invasive carp harvest in the Upper Mississippi River and the Illinois River. Silver Carp dual tagged with acoustic tags and externally attached GPS satellite transmitters will provide real-time data with up to 18m of accuracy. Eighty transmitters will be deployed in Pools 2 through 19 of the Mississippi River and twenty tags deployed in the Dresden Island Pool of the Illinois River. Drones will serve three roles, (1) help validate accuracy of GPS-enabled tags, (2) locate and quantify aggregations of silver carp informed by GPS and acoustic tags and (3) guide fine scale positioning of nets for enhanced removal. Since invasive carp are known to shoal, tagged fish may represent larger aggregations, which commercial fishers may target to increase harvest efficiency and locate aggregation areas that were previously unknown. We will compare harvest data between fishers that did or did not use tag guidance to determine transmitter value in different river locations. These technologies may lead to more efficient monitoring and management practices of Silver Carp in the Upper Mississippi River and Illinois River.

The Lower Des Moines River runs for approximately 140 miles from Red Rock Dam to its confluence with the Upper Mississippi River at Keokuk, Iowa. The river is home to a complex fisheries biota and is important to several species of Greatest Conservation Need. One of these species is the Blue Sucker Cycleptus elongatus. Thirteen Blue Suckers were implanted with acoustic transmitters and their movements were evaluated on an extensive array of 17 receivers located in the Lower Des Moines River. Initially, two of the 13 individuals likely perished post-surgery. Of the surviving 11, most exhibited relatively extensive downstream movements through the summer of 2023. Three of these individuals moved between 10 and 60 miles downstream by mid-summer whereas five individuals were ultimately determined to have reached pool 20 of the Upper Mississippi River. However, no detections of fish within the Lower Des Moines River were recorded following mid-July, 2023. This lack of observed detections may be partially the result of little movement of fish remaining within the Lower Des Moines River during low flows resulting from severe drought conditions. Alternatively, these same low flows may have resulted in poor detection probability.

Evaluating multi-species backwater habitat utilization in Pool 12 Overwintering HREPS. Primarily in Tippy and Stone Lakes.

Silver carp and Bighead carp, referred to as the Bigheaded carp, are an invasive species that can be detrimental to native ecosystems. Therefore, managing bigheaded carp populations is imperative to the health of native species. However, critical knowledge gaps of bigheaded carp movement and behavioral ecology in tributary rivers remain. First, other than main stem lock and dam structures, little is known about how bigheaded carp response to movement barriers and the resulting propagule pressure on upriver habitats. Furthermore, considerations of potential bighead carp management implications for native species must also be considered. Second, broad scale movement of bigheaded carp in tributaries and their interactions with main stem river systems remains poorly understood. Using a large scale acoustic telemetry array we aim to better understand these critical knowledge gaps.

This project will be a place to store all of the detection data from receivers that Iowa State maintains in the tributaries of the Missouri River Basin. This includes receivers in the Little Sioux River, Floyd River, Boyer River, and the Nishnabotna River. Ongoing telemetry projects in the Missouri River basin include: native and invasive species passage of a barrier on the Little Sioux River, electric barrier effectiveness on Milford Creek, metapopulation and movement analysis of mainstem tagged Silver Carp, and Missouri River backwater usage by Silver Carp.

Environmental flows in large rivers are crucial for maintaining ecosystem health and ensuring the sustainability of water resources for human, wildlife, and fish populations. Low and rapidly fluctuating river levels due to drought and dam operations downstream of impoundments may adversely affect the reproduction of native fishes by disrupting migratory cues and the transport of larvae to downstream nursery habitats. The United States Army Corps of Engineers and The Nature Conservancy developed the Sustainable Rivers Program (SRP) to implement science-based management of 45 river ecosystems across the nation. At the Des Moines River SRP site in Iowa, partners hypothesized that implementing experimental spring flow pulses at Red Rock Dam could promote native fish reproduction, including Shovelnose Sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus platorynchus) in low-flow years. However, it remains unclear whether these actions have been effective. Therefore, from 2021-2023 we conducted larval drift sampling to examine relationships between flow pulses, water temperatures, and reproductive timing of Shovelnose Sturgeon, a long-lived periodic spawning species found throughout the Mississippi River basin. We sampled four sites from April through June spanning ~84 river kilometers in ~15-20°C water temperatures 1-2 times each week. We collected 4 eggs/larvae in 2021, 17 in 2022, and 20 in 2023. There was a positive relationship with discharge and the number of Shovelnose Sturgeon eggs/larvae collected during 2021-2023. Larval drift sampling was implemented again in 2024 in additional rivers that will allow us to compare flow-reproduction relationships between the regulated Des Moines and Iowa rivers with the less-regulated Cedar River. These data will allow dam managers to adjust the timing and magnitude of flow pulses to benefit native fish reproduction without also promoting the reproduction of later spawning invasive carps.

Lake sturgeon are highly migratory and are currently managed as separate populations within tributaries of the Upper Mississippi River. Little is known regarding seasonal movements, habitat use and population connectivity within the UMR, especially within the Wisconsin tributaries. Therefore, adult lake sturgeon were tagged with acoustic transmitter tags within the Chippewa, St. Croix and Black rivers in Wisconsin and a receiver network was installed within each river system to track movements of fish. Specifically, within the St. Croix River, a total of 30 adult lake sturgeon were tagged in 2021-2023 and 3 receivers were installed throughout the Lower St. Croix River from St. Croix Falls to Prescott, WI.

The Minnesota Legislature passed funding recommended by the Lessard-Sams Outdoor Heritage Council to install an invasive carp deterrent at Lock and Dam 5 on the Mississippi River, upstream of Winona, MN by June 30, 2029. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources received that funding, and has partnered with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and Tribal entities to bring their technical expertise to bear on this project. As part of the project, both native fishes and invasive carp will be tagged to monitor passage across Lock and Dam 5 before and after installation of the lock deterrent. This will allow for assessment of the effects of the deterrent, with an eye to adaptive management to reduce invasive carp passage and minimize effects to native fishes. Tracking data from tagged fish will also assist in siting other components of the deterrent system including a trap and sort system to remove invasive carp and potentially pass native fish over the dam, and dam gate deterrents which may or may not be needed across the entire width of the dam structure. Fish will be tagged each year in Pool 5A from 2025-2029 and possibly beyond as funds and staffing allow. Receiver arrays maintained by Minnesota DNR, USFWS, USGS, and Wisconsin DNR will track fish movement at Lock and Dam 5 and throughout the Mississippi River basin, and will be supplemented by manual tracking.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been monitoring movement patterns and habitat use of numerous fish species in the Minnesota River by maintaining an array of acoustic receivers throughout the free flowing 240-mile reach of river downstream of Granite Falls Dam and some of the major tributaries since 2016. Fish species implanted with acoustic transmitters in the Minnesota River include but are not limited to Bigmouth Buffalo, Blue Sucker, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Freshwater Drum, Paddlefish, Sauger, Shorthead Redhorse, Shovelnose Sturgeon, Smallmouth Buffalo, and Walleye.

In 2013, an acoustic telemetry project was initiated in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area including the Minnesota, Mississippi (Pools 1, 2, and 3), and St. Croix rivers. Advancing populations of Silver Carp and Bighead Carp triggered discussions about barriers and deterrents to halt or slow the invasion. Little movement information existed on native fish movements within the major rivers. This study was designed to evaluate fish movements within the Minnesota, Mississippi, and St Croix rivers to determine preferred seasonal habitats, migrations, and their ability to pass locks and dams in the Mississippi River prior to, and following installation of barriers or deterrents, if installed. Movement data pre and post installation would be evaluated to determine barrier or deterrent effectiveness on the target species and evaluate potential impacts to native fish. In addition, Silver Carp and Bighead Carp would be implanted with transmitters, when possible, to gather movement data and identify preferred habitats. Attempts would be made to exploit preferred areas for targeted removal efforts. Transmittered Silver Carp and Bighead Carp implanted by other universities and agencies downstream would also be tracked to inform upstream migrations and further targeted removal efforts. Through 2024, 14 species have been implanted with transmitters, many with 10-year tags.

All MDC fish telemetry, historic and current.

This project, initiated in 2023, uses acoustic telemetry to monitor movements and habitat use of bigheaded carp (Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and H. molitrix) in the lower Red River and its tributaries in Oklahoma, Texas, and Arkansas. Located at the upstream edge of their range in the basin, this area has adult carp present but no officially documented recruitment, possibly due to limited past monitoring or infrequent suitable spawning conditions; therefore, a primary objective of this project is to identify potential spawning movements and locations. Tagged fish are tracked year-round to assess movement in relation to species, sex, size, hydrology, season, and time of day. The project is ongoing and currently expanding receiver coverage and tagged fish numbers.

Tracking movements of shovelnose sturgeon within an impounded section of the Rock River to investigate inter pool movements, and document potential emigration from the pool (move over the steel and Milan dams, Milan IL)

Evaluating Shovelnose Sturgeon movements in Iowa tributaries (Des Moines, Cedar, and Iowa rivers) in relation to environmental conditions.

Bigheaded carp are invasive freshwater planktivores whose invaded range in the United States has expanded since accidental introduction to the Mississippi River in 1985. Bigheaded carp currently threaten to invade the Laurentian Great Lakes as well as many other habitats connected to the Mississippi River, leading to concerns over further economic and environmental impact. To understand the entirety of risks associated with continued bigheaded carp expansion and increased abundance, populations must be monitored in the field. To manage their negative impacts, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has tasked SIU with obtaining monitoring data on invasive carp abundances and fish movement data collected via acoustic telemetry. This research has been allowing us to refine estimates of bigheaded carp population characteristics and movement rates in the Illinois River, with emphasis on the effects of locks and dams on bigheaded carp movement. Standardized sampling is also necessary to determine how invasive bigheaded carp populations are responding to ongoing removal efforts and inform ongoing targeted removal efforts.

Following their accidental introduction in the 1980s, Asian carps are invasive taxa in the Mississippi basin, including the Wabash and White rivers. Thus, it is an imperative research goal to better understand movement patterns and population sizes of these fishes. These data will inform future efforts to mitigate the economic and ecological impacts of bigheaded carp invasion. To manage their negative impacts, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has tasked SIU with obtaining monitoring data on Asian carp abundances and fish movement data collected via acoustic telemetry. This research will allow us to refine estimates of Asian carp population characteristics and movement rates in the Wabash River and White River, with emphasis on the effects of harvest on control of Asian carp and their movement in to the Ohio River.

In order to understand how fish are interacting with the USACE Electric Dispersal Barrier System (EDBS), surrogate species (e.g., Common Carp) for invasive carp (Silver and Bighead carps) will be tagged using acoustic telemetry to inform movement at and near the EDBS. Common Carp will be tagged using Innovasea V16 tags within the Brandon Road and Lockport pools on the Illinois Waterway. Invasive carp will be tagged using Innovasea V16 at the current invasion front in Dresden Island Pool. Invasive carp tagging will inform removal, as well as monitor movement of tagged individuals near the invasion front. Yearly analysis of all individuals will occur evaluating movements of fishes between and within navigational pools.

This research was initiated to study how fish are passing over or through Lock and Dam 22 in the Mississippi River. This research is in support of future plans to add a fish ladder at this lock and dam structure to aid in native fish passage.

Invasive carp are progressing upstream in the Upper Mississippi River. This study was started to track the upstream progression of these fish and learn habitat use and movement patterns.

This project provides support for the inter-agency telemetry array deployed in the Illinois River basin. The USFWS actively tracks acoustic telemetered Silver Carp and Bighead Carp in the Peoria and Starved Rock pools, and operation and maintenance of the telemetry array in Peoria and Starved Rock pools. The data gained from the additional tagged fish will improve the accuracy of MRWG modeling work, allowing improved estimates of current levels of exploitation and bolstering estimates of large-scale pool-to-pool movement.

Black Carp are an emerging invasive fish species in the Mississippi River, with documented reproducing populations a telemetry study was established with a primary tagging site near St. Louis, MO to assess the movement and habitat use patterns of these fish.

Recently there has been an increased removal effort of Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella (GRC) from the Lake Erie basin through traditional capture methods. Due to historically low catch per unit effort and low abundance of GRC in the Lake Erie basin, there has been interest from managers in the use of baits for attracting GRC to harvest locations in known spawning tributaries. A terrestrial plant-based bait for GRC, that contains corn and rapeseed has been shown to be a palatable and attractive formulation in multiple USGS laboratory trials conducted with tank/pond reared fish. Although the bait is being designed for management use in the Lake Erie basin, a robust assessment of their effectiveness is limited in power when tested in this region due to low GRC density. Grass carp are often associated with dense macrophyte beds such as hydrilla Hydrilla verticillate, Coontail Ceratophyllum demersum and American lotus Nelumbo lutea that are often difficult to fish effectively using traditional gear. Habitat selection by GRC is primarily driven by vegetation cover which was also linked to shoal habitats. It is unclear whether shallow nearshore or shallow offshore (shoal) habitats with dense vegetation cover is either more favorable to GRC or suitable for bait and algae deployment. To successfully evaluate the effectiveness of bait to aggregate GRC in targeted locations, preferred habitat must be decoupled from GRC behavior around application sites. The goal of this project is to evaluate GRC behavior around bait application sites in relation to control sites in different habitats. Grass Carp behavior around application and control sites will be monitored using acoustic telemetry arrays positioned around automated feeders.

Acoustic deterrent technologies are being considered to prevent the spread of invasive carp (Bighead Carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis, Silver Carp H. molitrix, Grass Carp Ctenopharyngodon idella, and Black Carp Mylopharyngodon piceus) from the Mississippi River watershed to the Great Lakes. To assess this technology, field testing of the deterrent equipment and newly developed sound stimuli on wild populations of invasive carp is essential. Large-scale experimental deployments and testing of underwater Acoustic Deterrent Systems (uADS) are currently installed or proposed at multiple locks and dams. However, there has been limited use or testing of underwater acoustic deterrents in smaller areas where lock infrastructure does not exist (e.g., side channels, backwaters). These more natural areas have important characteristics that differ from hard-structured locks and dams such as, soft substrate, flashy flow conditions, shallow or variable water depth, and inconsistent bathymetry/bottom elevation. Testing of newly developed sound stimuli as deterrents to carp movement should occur at sites where invasive carp are abundant and naturally traverse an area. To facilitate effective sound propagation, water depths should be greater than two meters, and access to electricity should be available to operate the uADS and monitoring equipment. These criteria are met at the Hanson Material Services (HMS) gravel pits on the Illinois River at Morris, Illinois. In addition, coarse-scale fish behavior (i.e., presence or absence in the HMS pits) has been monitored by Monitoring and Response Work Group (MRWG)partner agencies since 2012. To test equipment and sound stimuli on resident Silver Carp, the USGS Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center and the U.S. Army Engineering Research and Development Center (ERDC) deployed an underwater speaker array and acoustic monitoring equipment in mid-2021. Fish behavior has been monitored with acoustic telemetry since April 2021 and with stationary BioSonics DTX split-beam transducers (hereafter, BioSonics) and ARIS 3000 multibeam imaging sonar (hereafter, ARIS) was conducted most weeks from mid-April until November in 2021 and 2022.

Historically, USGS UMESC had assisted with tracking invasive carp in the UMR. Since it's inception, the program has shifted more toward the direct study of deterrents in the river system. To study the effectiveness of these deterrents, tagging events have targetted both invasive carp and several native fish species. Receiver locations have also been condensed to focus mainly on pinch points in the river system, specifically the locks and dams that might impede fish migration upstream.

USGS Central Midwest Water Science Center has supported the Monitoring and Response Work Group in the Illinois River by deploying receivers and data loggers capable of detecting tagged invasive carp species and sending instant alerts to partners and managers that trigger rapid response efforts toward removal. These real-time receivers consist of VR2C receivers hooked into Campbell Scientific dataloggers capable of processing and sending the data to the necessary partners. This project does not tag any fish, but rather, provides the added receiver support in target areas near current and planned barriers and deterrents in the Illinois River.

Melvin Price Locks and Dam (MPLD) (formerly known as Lock and Dam 26) on the Mississippi River near Alton, IL, is a key shipping location that passes over 50 million tons of cargo and has almost 7,000 lockages per year. This location has been identified as a "high priority site for fish passage improvement" as there is a large amount of tributary habitat upstream that is challenging for fish to access due to the presence of the dam, and the dam also acts as a barrier to movement downstream. Thus, improving fish passage around MPLD would benefit fish populations and help mitigate negative consequences of the barrier. At present, little is known about how fish interact with MPLD, precluding us from making recommendations on fishway design at this site. The overall goal of this project is to quantify behavioral characteristics of fishes, both upstream and downstream of Melvin Price Locks and Dam. These studies are being funded by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). USACE is also heavily involved in project design and implementation so that the research has practical relevance to future fishway plans. . Information produced by this work may be used to develop guidelines for fish passage structures at MPLD, and the techniques developed as part of this project may serve as a model that can be applied at other Corps dams to help design successful fishways in the future. Together, this work can help minimize the impacts of navigation structures on aquatic ecosystems.

Dam construction has significantly compromised connectivity of fish populations in rivers around the world and has led to the extirpation of many riverine species in impounded river segments. Specifically, the construction of Prairie du Sac Dam (PDSD), the lowest dam on the Wisconsin River, altered connectivity for many fish populations. While some of these species still exist above PDSD, blue suckers and shovelnose sturgeon have been extirpated from the segment of river between PDSD and Kilbourn Dam located at Wisconsin Dells and we note that blue sucker are listed as a state threatened species in Wisconsin. Future fish passage could restore this connectivity, but it is unknown how fish will behave after passage becomes available. Understanding the behavior of fish after passage or transfer upstream of dams is important to determining whether the goals of a passage or transfer program are met. For example, determining how long fish remain above the dams is critical to determining whether a resident population of fish can be established or whether fish remain above the dams to utilize spawning habitat that was not previously available to them. A dam passage or transfer program may not achieve program goals if fish return downstream relatively soon after passage or transfer. Additionally, passage or transfer could result in increased mortality if fish must return downstream by going over a dam or through turbines. Trap-and-transfer provides a means to assess how blue suckers and shovelnose sturgeon might behave if provided access to the segment of the Wisconsin River above Prairie du Sac dam. This could help in determining how eventual passage might benefit these populations, identify habitat use of these fish after passage occurs, and inform operational guidelines for the fishway or other forms of fish passage that might be implemented in the future. Our research will address these important questions for blue suckers and shovelnose sturgeon transferred upstream of PDSD.

Over the past decade there has been a noticeable increase in lake sturgeon activity within the Lower Black River and it seems that the population has been steadily increasing. Wisconsin DNR Black River Falls Fish Management Crew is interested in the life history, movement and population characteristics of the Black River lake sturgeon and began acoustically tagging and tracking lake sturgeon in 2022. To date we have acoustically tagged 20 lake sturgeon (10-year tag life). Initial results are showing seasonal use and movement between the Black River and Mississippi River by some fish while others choose to reside solely in the Black River.

It is known that the lower Chippewa River contains relatively robust populations of Lake Sturgeon and Shovelnose Sturgeon various times of the year, but it was unknown if there are Chippewa River resident fish or if these fish belong to larger metapopulations from the upper Mississippi River. To investigate the use of the Chippewa River and other nearby tributaries by these species, five receivers were deployed in the Chippewa River, two in the Red Cedar, and one in the Black River. Between 2021 and 2022, 47 lake sturgeon (30 males; 15 females; 2 unknown) were implanted with 10-year acoustic transmitters during a spawning stock survey in Eau Claire. In 2023, 30 shovelnose sturgeon (21 males; 9 females) were implanted with 2.5-year acoustic transmitters during a spawning stock survey near Caryville. Receivers are downloaded each fall and movement of tagged fish is evaluated.