Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee Releases 2019 Asian Carp Action Plan
April 29, 2019
The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee is pleased to announce the release of the 2019 Asian Carp Action Plan. The updated Action Plan includes aggressive new prevention and control efforts, including expanded Asian carp population reduction along established fronts, large-scale field trials of potential barriers and deterrent technologies, and actions to address black and grass carp threats. The Action Plan also addresses priorities for early detection and monitoring of all life stages of Asian carp, support for the electric dispersal barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System, contingency response, secondary pathway mitigation, and stakeholder communication and outreach.
Key initiatives for 2019 include:
- Multiple efforts to field test potential Asian carp deterrents including underwater sound and carbon dioxide.
- Expansion, refinement and use of more effective sampling and harvest strategies.
- Continued coordination of strategic efforts to address the growing threats of black and grass carp.
- Increased use of focused contract commercial fishing to remove adult Asian carp in the upper Illinois River to support Committee management goals.
Developed annually since 2010, the Action Plan works to prevent the spread of invasive Asian carp in the Great Lakes. The strategy incorporates the most current advances in science and technology for Asian carp prevention and control, and also supports the goals and recommendations of the national Management and Control Plan for Bighead, Black, Grass, and Silver Carps in the United States.