Contacts
Pam Thiel (608) 783-8431
Mark Steingraeber (608) 783-8436
A coalition of environmental professionals
took to their boats recently to evaluate the extent of
infestation in regional waters by some of the Midwest's most
notorious invasive species.
The seventh annual Goby Round Up was held
June 18-21, in a 100-mile stretch of the Illinois Waterway, from
Blue Island to Spring Valley. This surveillance effort involved
13 boats and more than 40 staff members and volunteers from nine
state, regional, federal and environmental entities.
The objective of this year's monitoring was
expanded. In addition to determining the relative abundance and
downstream leading edge of the round goby, the upstream
distribution of the invasive silver and bighead carp was also
monitored.
The round goby, a non-native fish from the
Black and Caspian seas, was first discovered in North American
waters in 1990, and has since spread to all of the Great Lakes.
The exotic round goby is a bottom-feeding species known for its
aggressive feeding and defensive behavior, and prolific
reproductive rate. These traits make them a threat to native fish
and a nuisance to anglers.
The goby has been moving inland from Lake
Michigan toward the Mississippi River basin via the Illinois
Waterway System since 1993. The farthest downstream verified
specimen of a round goby, to date, is just below the Brandon Road
Lock and Dam near Joliet. This collection places them about 50
miles from Calumet Harbor on Lake Michigan, 11 miles below the
electrical dispersal barrier near Romeoville, and approximately
15 percent down the length of the Illinois Waterway on its way to
the Mississippi River. Gobies were not found any further
downstream last week, but their numbers are increasing.
Bighead and silver carp are native to large
rivers of Asia, were brought to Arkansas by private fish farmers
in the early 1970s, and started appearing in public waterways in
the early 1980s. These species are plankton feeders, eating
microscopic plants and animals, and can reach weights of over 80
pounds. They are in direct competition for food with paddlefish,
bigmouth buffalo, gizzard shad, larval and juvenile fish, and
mussels.
"They have become extremely abundant
in stretches of the upper Mississippi and lower Illinois
rivers," said Dr. John Chick of the Illinois Natural History
Survey. "Silver and bighead carp, in addition to upsetting
the natural balance of ecosystems, can cause problems for boaters
and other recreational users because they can actually jump out
of the water and into your boat."
During last year's Goby Round Up, bighead
carp were collected near La Salle-Peru, Illinois. This collection
represented the most upstream record for the species in the
Illinois River and placed them 100 miles from Lake Michigan.
Since then, the Illinois DNR has recorded the species in the
Marseilles and Morris area. This puts them about 25 miles below
the electrical barrier and 55 miles from Lake Michigan.
The Illinois Waterway System in the Chicago
area consists of several interconnecting channels and natural
rivers that provide a direct link between the Great Lakes and the
Mississippi River Basin for non-native species to travel in
either direction. The Mississippi River Basin is the largest in
North America and the Great Lakes Basin contains 20 percent of
the earth's fresh water; and together these huge basins encompass
portions of 30 states and two Canadian province's. Therefore, the
potential economic and environmental impact of the round goby,
Asian carp, and other invasive species could be widespread and
significant.
Dr. Hugh MacIsaac from the Great Lakes
Institute for Environmental Research at the University of Windsor
voiced concern by saying, "Invasive species like Asian carp
and round goby have the real potential to cause long-term damage.
These species are receiving attention because increasing
populations could seriously impact sport and commercial fishing
in the two large ecosystems of the Great Lakes and the
Mississippi River."
In order to prevent and slow the spread of
nonindigenous aquatic species throughout the Mississippi and
Great Lakes basins, the Nonindigenous Species Act of 1996
authorized the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study and
determine the feasibility of an aquatic nuisance species barrier
as a demonstration project. An interagency advisory panel was
assembled and recommended a full-water column electrical barrier
as the most practical first step for slowing the spread of fish
between the two basins. Construction of the barrier, located in
the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal near Romeoville, is completed
and became operational in April 2002.
Asian carp upstream movement could be
slowed by this electrical dispersal barrier. With the fate of the
Great Lakes fishery at risk, there are elevated incentives to add
additional components to the barrier to make it even more
effective, since Asian carp have yet to be collected above the
barrier. The Illinois Natural History Survey will be evaluating
the effectiveness of the barrier this fall and conducting
laboratory experiments on how to best tweak the electric barrier
to repel Asian carp moving upstream. This prototype barrier is a
short-term remedy, but other feasible, long-term alternatives
need to be explored.
According to Pam Thiel, project leader for
the Service's La Crosse Fishery Resource Office and coordinator
of the Round Up, "To stop the spread of invasive species
like round goby and Asian carp, anglers should never collect them
as bait and move them to another lake or river. Preventing a
non-native species from becoming established in a new area is
always the best approach to maintaining healthy ecosystems."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the
principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting
and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for
the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service
manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which
encompasses nearly 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of
small wetlands and other special management areas. It also
operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices
and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces
Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act,
manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally
significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat
such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their
conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program
that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes
on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife
agencies.
For more information about the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes - Big Rivers Region, visit
our home page at http://midwest.fws.gov
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U.S.
Fish & Wildlife Service
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