Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee Releases 2021 Asian Carp Action Plan
March 22, 2021
Contact:
Monica Blaser, monica_blaser@fws.gov
The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee is pleased to announce the release of its 2021 Asian Carp Action Plan, a comprehensive portfolio of projects focused on Great Lakes protection. Despite significant challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, in FY 2021 the Committee remains fully committed to supporting key initiatives in the 2021 Action Plan while maintaining the health and safety of partners and the citizens we serve. The 2021 Action Plan, funded through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and annual agency appropriations, includes 61 detection, prevention and control projects. These efforts include an aggressive reduction of Asian carp populations along established fronts, large-scale field trials of potential fish deterrent technologies and actions to address black and grass carp threats.
The 2021 Action Plan supports key initiatives including:
- Continued operation of the electric dispersal barriers in the Chicago Area Waterway System. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed construction activities for Permanent Barrier I and expect it to be fully operational by the end of FY 2021.
- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-led Brandon Road Lock and Dam project in Will County, Illinois in collaboration with the State of Illinois. The Brandon Road project represents an additional key prevention and control effort focused on protecting the Great Lakes from Asian carp.
- Large-scale testing and development of new technologies to block Asian carp migration, including underwater sound, known as acoustics, and carbon dioxide deterrent barriers. The U.S. Geological Survey and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are leading these efforts with assistance from partner agencies.
- Development and use of advanced fisheries stock assessment and decision support tools to direct Asian carp harvest efforts for maximum impact in the Illinois River, an endeavor led by the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee’s Monitoring and Response Work Group.
- Efforts by Illinois Department of Natural Resources to increase the use of focused commercial fishing to remove adult Asian carp in the upper Illinois River in support of population reduction goals and to reduce the risk of upstream expansion.
- Closure of a remaining potential inter-basin connection at Little Killbuck Creek in Ohio with Great Lakes Restoration Initiative funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
- Continued efforts led by Ohio and Michigan Departments of Natural Resources, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other partners, to remove grass carp in Lake Erie. Additionally, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Ohio Department of Natural Resources will complete the evaluation of a seasonal barrier for grass carp in the Sandusky River.
- A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers collaboration to establish research priorities and identify methods to improve black carp monitoring using eDNA. Additionally, the U.S. Geological Survey will continue assessing the biology, life history and habitat use of black carp to aid prevention efforts.
The activities supported through the Action Plan incorporate the most current strategies and advances in science and technology for Asian carp prevention and control and, support the goals and recommendations of the national Management and Control Plan for Bighead, Black, Grass, and Silver Carps in the United States.
For more information on the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee and to access the 2021 Asian Carp Action Plan, please visit www.AsianCarp.us.
The ACRCC is a bi-national partnership of 28 U.S. and Canadian federal, state, provincial, tribal and local agencies and organizations with the mission of preventing the introduction and establishment of Asian carp in the Great Lakes.