Control Strategy Framework

Highlighted Action Items

Frequently Asked Questions

Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework

What is the Administration's plan for preventing Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes?
In February 2010, the Obama Administration announced the Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework, investing in a sustained effort to prevent Asian carp from establishing in the Great Lakes. Updated in 2011, the Framework outlines an aggressive, multi-tiered strategy that includes Asian carp monitoring and netting, identifying and blocking pathways to the Great Lakes, and a series of other short- and long-term actions, including the development of long term biological controls.

How are the Framework actions being coordinated among the agencies?
To ensure a comprehensive response, the Obama Administration formed the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) in 2009. Led by The White House Council on Environmental Quality's Asian Carp Director, the ACRCC now includes the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation and all eight Great Lakes states, as well as the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago, and the City of Chicago.

Together, the ACRCC works daily to execute a coordinated strategy that focuses on short and long-term actions to prevent Asian carp from establishing self-sustaining populations in the Great Lakes, and on vigilant monitoring to assess the need for emergency response.

What action has been taken under the Framework so far and what's expected to be accomplished in 2011?
Together, the ACRCC works daily to execute an aggressive, multi-tiered strategy that focuses on short and long-term actions to prevent Asian carp from establishing self-sustaining populations in the Great Lakes, and on vigilant monitoring to assess the need for response actions.

Key actions in 2010 and 2011 include:

Council on Environmental Quality
• Appointing an Asian Carp Director to lead a collaborative and coordinated response among Federal and state agencies.
• Increasing collaboration by integrating the Great Lakes states into the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee and Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework actions.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Coordinating development of the 2011 Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Operating effective electric dispersal barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
• Constructing physical barriers to prevent Asian carp from the Des Plaines River and the Illinois and Michigan Canal from crossing into the Chicago Sanitary and

Ship Canal during flooding.
• Continuing the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS), including study of aquatic nuisance species controls and hydrologic separation of the basins; and hosting 12 public meetings.
• Constructing a third electric fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.
• Increasing eDNA sampling capacity.

State of Indiana
• Installing a 1,500 foot fish barrier fence at Eagle Marsh, near Fort Wayne, IN, to block advancement of Asian carp from the Wabash River to the Maumee River and Lake Erie.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
• Establishing Asiancarp.org to provide up-to-date information about Asian carp management efforts.
• Conducting carp inspections in collaboration with the State of Illinois at bait shops, fish processors, fish markets, and retail food establishments.
• Increasing electrofishing and netting field monitoring operations in priority locations.
• Expanding the USFWS lab in LaCrosse, WI to allow for eDNA testing in all of the Great Lakes.
• Supporting American commercial fisherman in the development of Asian carp markets with the goal of reducing/eliminating Asian carp populations in the Illinois River through sustained, focused overfishing (in partnership with IL DNR).
• Collaborating with other Federal and state agencies on risk assessments and modeling to ensure comprehensive understanding of the Asian carp threat.

U.S. Coast Guard
• Establishing and enforcing a combination of safety and/or security zones/measures to manage the movement of recreational and commercial vessels through the affected areas of the CAWS.

U.S. Geological Survey
• Researching rapid genetic-based methods to more quickly detect Asian carp.
• Exploring new Asian carp controls, such as selective toxins and hydro guns.
• Conducting Asian carp risk assessment based on habitat suitability and available food sources.
• Conducting risk assessment of interbasin transfer in CAWS.

If Asian carp are found nearing Lake Michigan, does the Framework identify response procedures?
Yes. If an Asian carp was found in the Chicago Area Waterway upstream of the electric barrier or in Lake Michigan waters, the response would vary depending upon location and the professional judgment of agency experts with jurisdictional authority (for example, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service). Responses could range from rotenone poisoning to use of seismic cannons and would include action to assess the extent of Asian carp populations in the area.

Funding

What funding is proposed for Asian carp activities in 2011?
A total proposed funding amount of $47 million is planned for FY 2011. This includes FY2010 carryover of just under $7 million, a proposed GLRI funding amount of just over $26 million, and Federal base program funding of just under $14 million.

What are the anticipated funding needs for Asian carp activities in 2012?
The President's budget calls for a Federal base funding amount of just over $33 million ($3 million for USGS, $3 million for FWS, and $27 million for USACE). At this time we are working to develop our 2012 action list and GLRI funding request to support those actions.

How are Asian carp management activities funded?
Asian carp management activities are funded through a variety of sources outlined in the Asian Carp Control Strategic Framework.

Electric Barrier

What is the electric barrier?
What is known as the electric barrier is actually a series of three barriers. Each barrier has its own array of underwater electrodes. The electrodes generate an electric field from the bottom of the canal to the top of the water column. Additional information about the barriers can be found at: www.lrc.usace.army.mil/AsianCarp/BarriersFactSheet.pdf

How does the electric barrier work?
The barriers operate by creating a waterborne pulsed direct current electric field. Fish attempting to penetrate the electric field are exposed to increasingly unpleasant electric stimuli. The field repulses fish and deters them from swimming through the electrified area. Effective settings are based on a combination of pulse duration, frequency and voltage and are designed to provide flexibility to adjust operations as environmental conditions warrant or if new information becomes available on the optimal parameter combinations for stopping all sizes of fish.

Will the electric barrier prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes?
The electrical barriers are effective and are currently the best tool to stop large-scale movement of Asian carp from the Illinois River into the Great Lakes via the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Without the electrical barrier system in place, Asian carp and other fish would have an unimpeded pathway from the Mississippi basin to the Great Lakes and vice versa.

Will the electric barrier prevent other species from transferring to either basin?
Many species, especially viruses and plants, are not affected by electrical current and can easily pass through the electrical field of the barrier. The barrier will likely only prohibit swimming fish from transferring to the Great Lakes basin from the Mississippi or vice versa.

Is the electric barrier harmful to people?
Yes. If humans do not take proper precautions when immediately around the electrical barrier, they could be hurt or killed. Swimming, fishing, and entering the water near the electrical barrier are prohibited. Additional safety information is available at www.lrc.usace.army.mil/safety.

Is there an Asian carp population above the electric barrier?
Extensive monitoring continues to show that there is no established Asian carp population above the electric barrier. The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee has a robust on-the-ground response that ranges from cutting-edge scientific analysis of water samples for Asian carp DNA, to intensive use of traditional fishing methods such as electro-fishing and netting, to continuous operation of an electric barrier in the waters of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, to construction of a 13-mile barrier that prevents fish passage during flooding. In fact, the closest potential breeding population to Lake Michigan is understood to be about 50 miles downstream of the electric barrier in the Marseilles Pool.

 

Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee