U.S. Geological Survey La Crosse, WI - UMESC - ILR (USGSUMESCILR)

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.

Points of Contact

• Marybeth Brey

  U.S. Geological Survey

  Principal Investigator

• Christa Woodley

  U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

  Principal Investigator