Asian carp and the Maumee Rever

[Ragman]

Indiania DNR lists facts on Asian Carp in Wabash River

Recent reports and discussions lack clarity regarding a potential connection between the Wabash and Maumee River basins and the potential for movement of Asian Carp from the Wabash watershed to the Maumee/Great Lakes watershed. To clear up these misunderstandings, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources offers the following information:

- The potential connection is not new, nor is understanding and knowledge of the potential connection new. Rather, attention is being focused on the potential connection due to collaborative efforts between Indiana DNR, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and others to better quantify the type of flooding conditions that should present the opportunity for movement of Asian Carp. This effort is part of the larger Interbasin Study that the Corps is conducting.

- The potential connection is due to natural geologic conditions dating back to glacial movement at the end of the Ice Age. There is a potential for movement of flood waters between the Wabash and Maumee basins in this area. Indiana DNR has long been aware of the potential flooding connection through study of floodway mapping. Under normal conditions, there is no direct physical connection between the Wabash and Maumee, but a natural backwash of flooded Maumee tributaries can spread across a broad floodplain near Fort Wayne and connect with tributaries of the Wabash.

- Indiana DNR has been working cooperatively with the Corps of Engineers, USGS, Allen County (Indiana) surveyor and others to study the nature of flooding events in the area to determine the types of conditions needed to allow passage of Asian Carp. Once that determination has been made, the DNR will quickly turn to planning efforts on preventive measures to deter Asian Carp movement into the Maumee River watershed.

- Asian Carp have been present in the Wabash River for at least 15 years. The mouth of the Wabash River feeds to the Ohio River, which in turn is a tributary to the Mississippi River. Asian Carp have been moving up these waterways since their accidental introduction in Arkansas in the 1970s. Indiana DNR has observed Asian Carp in spot locations on the Wabash River as far upstream as the dam that creates Roush Lake (Huntington County). The concrete and earth dam is 91-feet high and 6,500-feet wide, with a top width of 46 feet. Asian Carp would be unable to pass beyond this barrier to the upper stretches of the Wabash River.

- In late May of this year, a DNR fisheries biologist detected an Asian Carp spawning event (specifically silver carp) in the vicinity of Lafayette, roughly 100 miles downstream from the Roush Lake dam.

- The Wabash River flows southwest for 475 river miles from its headwaters in Mercer County (Ohio), including a 411-mile stretch from the Roush Lake dam to the Ohio River. That is the longest free-flowing stretch of any river east of the Mississippi River. The Wabash headwaters are approximately 60 land miles from the headwaters of the Maumee River in downtown Fort Wayne.

- The USGS has documented several occurrences of Asian Carp in Lake Erie dating back to at least 1995 (Nonindigenous Aquatic Species). These isolated findings are believed to be from intentional releases with no reported evidence of a sustainable population.




« Back to News Release List

Link to this event: http://www.in.gov/portal/news_events/55392.htm

 

[Jack_Berry]

friday article in the chgo trib

CHICAGO —
Environmentalists raised an alarm Thursday about Asian carp found spawning in the Wabash River in northern Indiana and the possibility that flooding could push them into other waterways that lead to the Great Lakes.

But Indiana wildlife officials said they're way ahead of the voracious fish.

Asian carp were found spawning in May near Lafayette, Ind., 100 miles downstream from a 91-foot-high dam that has so far kept them far from the headwaters of the Wabash, said Phil Bloom, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Get the Chicago Tribune delivered to your home for only $1 a week >>

"We have no evidence that Asian carp have been able to penetrate that barrier" which is near Huntington in northwestern Indiana, Bloom said.

Even so, the Indiana DNR is working with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Geological Survey to determine how much flooding it would take for the fish to escape from the Wabash into waters that connect with Lake Erie.

Biologists fear the giant carp -- which can grow to 4 feet and 100 pounds -- could destroy the Great Lakes' $7 billion-a-year fishery by starving out native species. And several lawmakers have introduced legislation to study a plan to permanently separate waterways linking the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes.

Last week, officials said a live carp was caught six miles from Lake Michigan. Commercial fishermen landed the 3-foot-long, 20-pound bighead carp in Lake Calumet on Chicago's South Side, about six miles from Lake Michigan.

Joel Brammeier, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said the discovery of spawning Asian carp in the Wabash underscores the need for better leadership and coordination to keep the invasive fish out of the Great Lakes.

"The news that Asian carp in the Wabash River in Indiana are mere miles away from the Great Lakes Basin is yet another alarm calling us to address this clear threat," U.S. Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., said in a statement.

Asian carp have been present in the Wabash River for close to 15 years, Bloom said. They were first found in Indiana in 1996 in a DNR-managed fish and wildlife area called Hovey Lake Fish and Wildlife Area, Bloom said. In 1999, Asian carp were found further up the Wabash. And just within the last year or so, they were found in other Wabash River locations, though not in great concentrations. The farthest upstream on the Wabash they've been is beneath the Roush Lake dam near Huntington.

For decades, bighead and silver carp have been migrating up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers toward the Great Lakes. Two electric barriers, which emit pulses to scare the carp away or give a jolt if they proceed, have been a last line of defense.

"We have no evidence that they have migrated or moved into the areas people are saying," Bloom said. "We're certainly looking at it. We don't like Asian carp and we don't want them in the Great Lakes any more than anybody else."

 

[OntarioVanMan]

They should have free fishing day, like a family day and promote it in Chinatown and other Asian communities...they love carp....imagine the numbers would drop....they steam them and pick out the meat with a chopstick...

 

[layoutshooter]

They should have free fishing day, like a family day and promote it in Chinatown and other Asian communities...they love carp....imagine the numbers would drop....they steam them and pick out the meat with a chopstick...

Most states have one or two free fishing days every year. The carp that we already have in the Great Lakes are not really fit to eat. They are heavily contaminated with chemicals. Not only Asians like carp but Europeans as well. That is how those vile fish ended up in North America. They were brought over and introduced. Same with the English sparrow and the starling.

We need to net the snot out of them as they spawn and just grind them up and get rid of them. We should also be working on a biological way of killing them, ALL carp, not just this new one.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

Most states have one or two free fishing days every year. The carp that we already have in the Great Lakes are not really fit to eat. They are heavily contaminated with chemicals. Not only Asians like carp but Europeans as well. That is how those vile fish ended up in North America. They were brought over and introduced. Same with the English sparrow and the starling.

We need to net the snot out of them as they spawn and just grind them up and get rid of them. We should also be working on a biological way of killing them, ALL carp, not just this new one.

They do that in Hamilton harbour....huge carp traps....to help with wetland reconstruction even the standard carp causes damage...

 

[layoutshooter]

They do that in Hamilton harbour....huge carp traps....to help with wetland reconstruction even the standard carp causes damage...

They have been destroying our lakes for YEARS and continue to do so. I think we should get welfare rangers, give them fish gigs, and have them earn their wages gigging carp every spring. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week for the entire time the carp are in shallow water. Kill them all!! (the carp that is)