Asian Carp Sampling Summary - Week of June 20, 2011

A sampling summary for the week of June 20, 2011 is included below.  Note that these data are field summaries that are provisional and subject to revision pending thorough review.

Bottom Line:  Much work was again completed this week.  No bighead or silver carp were captured or observed upstream of the Dispersal Barrier nor were any found in new locations downstream of the Barrier.

Fixed Site Sampling Upstream of the Dispersal Barrier

Site 1: Lake Calumet

Site 2: Little Calumet River

Site 3: Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC), South Branch Chicago River

Site 4: North Branch Chicago River, North Shore Channel

Site 5: North Shore Channel

Two IDNR electrofishing boats and crews and two commercial fishing boats and crews with IDNR biologists sampled the five fixed sites upstream of the Dispersal Barrier from June 20-22.  Sample effort included a total of 48 electrofishing runs (15 minutes each; 12.0 hours total) and 23 trammel/gill net sets (200-400 yards/set; 5,800 yards total).  A combined total of 3,313 fish representing 41 species and 2 hybrid groups were sampled during the effort.  No bighead or silver carp were captured or seen. 

DC Electrofishing

Species	Site 1	Site 2	Site 3	Site 4	Site 5	All sites
Gizzard shad >6.0 in.	119	57	7	14	2	199
Gizzard shad <6.0 in.	8	160	102	42	2	314
Alewife	25	4		1	26	56
Common carp	177	481	91	148	79	976
Goldfish		12	3	8	9	32
Freshwater drum	7	13				20
Smallmouth buffalo	4					4
Black buffalo		1				1
White sucker		1	2	30	18	51
Channel catfish	3	1	1	2	3	10
Yellow bullhead	5	4	9	3	2	23
Black bullhead	3	1	3	2	7	16
Largemouth bass	51	51	14	4	82	202
Smallmouth bass	1	1				2
Bluegill	20	40	44	10	51	165
Green sunfish		47	18		17	82
Pumpkinseed	31	96	57	3	85	272
Hybrid sunfish		7	1		3	11
Rock bass					13	13
Black crappie		1			3	4
Golden shiner	5	2	97	5	66	175
Bluntnose minnow		34	36		3	73
Spotfin shiner		4	23	2	1	30
Emerald shiner	13	5		3		21
Spottail shiner		3			3	6
Yellow perch	8		1		34	43
Brook silverside	7					7
White perch	1	2			1	4
White bass	7	3	2			12
Yellow bass		3	5			8
Orangespotted sunfish		19				19
Creek chub		6	1		1	8
Northern pike		1				1
Round goby	1	1				2
Oriental weatherfish			2		2	4
Banded killifish	1					1
Grass carp		1				1
Salmonid smolt					1	1
Brown bullhead		1	4			5
River shiner		1				1
All species	497	1063	523	277	514	2874

 

Trammel Netting

Species	Site 1	Site 2	Site 3	Site 4	Site 5	All sites
Gizzard shad >6.0 in.	6					6
Common carp	250	39	30	3	21	343
Goldfish			1			1
Carp x goldfish hybrid			12		1	13
Freshwater drum	57					57
Smallmouth buffalo	5					5
Bigmouth buffalo	1					1
Black buffalo	6					6
Channel catfish	5					5
Flathead catfish	1					1
River carpsucker	1					1
All species	332	39	43	3	22	439

 

Fixed Site Sampling Downstream of the Dispersal Barrier

Site A:  Lockport Pool – Lockport Lock and Dam to Electric Barrier

Site B:  Brandon Road Pool – Brandon Road Lock and Dam to Lockport Lock and Dam

Site C:  Dresden Island Pool – I-55 Bridge to Brandon Road Lock and Dam

Site D:  Marseilles Pool – Rt. 47 Bridge (Morris) to Dresden Lock and Dam

One IDNR electrofishing boat and crew and one USACE electrofishing boat and crew sampled the four fixed sites below the Dispersal Barrier on June 21-22 and two commercial fishing boats and crews with IDNR biologists sampled the same fixed sites with trammel nets on June 23.  Sample effort included a total of 16 electrofishing runs (four 15-minute runs/site; 4.0 hours total) and 14 trammel net sets (200-400 yards/set; 2,300 yards total).  The combined catch among gears was 688 fish representing 39 species and 1 hybrid groups.  No bighead or silver carp were collected or observed in the Lockport  and Brandon Road pools.  Two bighead carp were taken with gill nets in the Dresden Island Pool about 18 miles downstream of the Dispersal Barrier.  One bighead carp and 22 silver carp were captured by electrofishing and  5 bigheads and 9 silvers were taken with trammel and gill nets further downstream in the Marseilles Pool. 

A catch summary is listed below.

DC Electrofishing

Species	Lockport	Brandon	Dresden	Marseilles	All sites
Gizzard shad > 6″	22		15	12	49
Gizzard shad < 6″	28	31	5	10	74
Common carp	65	92	51	10	218
Goldfish		5	1		6
Silver carp				22	22
Bighead carp				1	1
Freshwater drum		5	1		6
Longnose gar			3	3	6
Channel catfish		5	2		7
Flathead catfish		1			1
Yellow bullhead		2	1		3
Smallmouth buffalo			9	27	36
Bigmouth buffalo				14	14
River carpsucker				8	8
Quillback				3	3
White sucker		1			1
Golden redhorse			2	4	6
Shorthead redhorse				1	1
Largemouth bass	1	3	5	5	14
Smallmouth bass		1	2	6	9
Bluegill		11	15	4	30
Green sunfish	2		11		13
Pumkinseed		2	1		3
Orangespotted sunfish		12			12
Hybrid sunfish	1		2		3
White crappie	1	4		1	6
Northern pike		1			1
White bass				7	7
Yellow bass				1	1
Golden shiner		1			1
Emerald shiner	16	7	2	16	41
Spotfin shiner				8	8
Bluntnose minnow	1	9			10
Walleye				1	1
Sauger		1			1
White perch		2			2
Brown bullhead			2		2
Mosquitofish			1		1
Goldeye				1	1
Sand shiner		1			1
All species	137	197	131	165	630

 

Trammel Netting

Species	Lockport	Brandon	Dresden	Marseilles	All sites
Common carp		3	14	2	19
Goldfish			1		1
Silver carp				9	9
Bighead carp			2	5	7
Freshwater drum			1		1
Channel catfish			2		2
Smallmouth buffalo			8	1	9
Bigmouth buffalo			3	5	8
Black buffalo				2	2
All species	0	3	31	24	58

 

Additional Netting For Asian Carp Downstream of the Dispersal Barrier

Two commercial fishing boats and crews with IDNR biologists sampled with trammel and gill nets in Dresden Island Pool from Treats Island downstream to the Kankakee River on June 24.  Sample effort included nine net sets (200-400 yards/set; 2,000 yards total) and the total catch was 59 fish representing five species.  No Asian carp were captured or observed during this sampling effort. 

A catch summary is listed below.

Species	Dresden
Common carp	30
Goldfish	1
Flathead catfish	1
Smallmouth buffalo	24
Black buffalo	3
All species	59

 

eDNA Monitoring Project

One USFWS-La Crosse boat and crew obtained 114 water samples (plus six control samples) for eDNA analysis from the Chicago River and South Branch Chicago River (Chicago Lock to Bubbly Creek) on June 23.  Samples were filtered at the USEPA lab in Chicago and forwarded to ERDC in Vicksburg, MS for analysis.  Results of eDNA analysis will be reported on the USACE web site listed below as they become available.

http://www.lrc.usace.army.mil/AsianCarp/eDNA.htm

 Barrier Defense Asian Carp Removal Project

Dresden Island Pool:  10-24 miles downstream from Dispersal Barrier

Marseilles Pool:  24-51 miles downstream from Dispersal Barrier

Starved Rock Pool:  51-65 miles downstream from Dispersal Barrier

Five commercial fishing boats and crews and five IDNR observers fished a combined 32,900 yards of net from Tuesday-Friday, June 21-24.  Netting effort focused on the Marseilles Pool near Morris (25,900 yards of net), but also took place in lower Dresden Island Pool (1,300 yards of net) and Starved Rock Pool (5,700 yards of net).  A total of 1,621 bighead carp and 817 silver carp were removed during the effort (only one of each species in the Dresden Island Pool).  The combined harvest for both species was 42,754 pounds and 86% of this total was taken from the Marseilles Pool.  A 2011 cumulative removal summary for all locations combined is included below.

QUICK SUMMARY:
Number of Days Fished	19	days
Number of Net Crews	104	crew-days
Miles of Nets Fished	85.1	miles
Number of Bighead Carp	9,205	fish
Number of Silver Carp	4,622	fish
Number of Grass Carp	5	fish
Number of Asian Carp (AC)	13,832	fish
Tons of AC Harvested	139.1	tons
Average number AC per 1,000 yards net	85.1	fish

 

Telemetry Project

Biologists from USACE (MVR, LRC, and MVS) assisted by USFWS were able to successfully implement the first phase of the small fish telemetry study on 20-24 June.  In all, 14 small fish (2 to 6 inches in length) were successfully tagged with small ultrasonic transmitters.  Six fish were released above Barrier 2B and below Barrier 1, and eight fish were released immediately downstream of Barrier 2B.  Species tagged included: black crappie, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, green sunfish, pumpkinseed, black bullhead, and white sucker.  Fish were captured using mini fyke nets and electrofishing from Lockport and Brandon Road pools.  Tagged fish were held and allowed to acclimate before release. 

Additionally, crews were able to capture and tag 47 fish for the ongoing adult telemetry work.  Species captured and tagged in Lockport Pool were common carp (including a few mirror carp), freshwater drum, and channel catfish.

The VR4 receiver download began this week, as well.  Lengthy download time and inclement weather allowed 2 of 4 receivers to be successfully downloaded.  The remaining two receivers will be downloaded and data will be analyzed in the coming weeks.