Minnesota Department of Natural Resources Invasive Carp Deterrent Project at Lock and Dam 5 (MNDNRICLD5)

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.

Points of Contact

• Grace Loppnow

  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

  Principal Investigator

• Carli Wagner

  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

  Principal Investigator

• Kelly Pennington

  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

  Principal Investigator

• Kayla Zankle

  Minnesota Department of Natural Resources

  Principal Investigator