With a third of the industry’s annual boat sales centered in the eight states surrounding the Great Lakes, protecting what is more than 20% of the world’s fresh water is a top priority. Bring in the spies.
It may seem a little James Bond-ish, but we’re not talking films. It’s dead serious, as federal and state wildlife experts have long taken on the fight to prevent the spread of invasive Asian carp with a seek-and-destroy campaign that deserves recognition and thanks.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has teamed up with state wildlife agencies in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois and other states to prevent carp from gaining entry into the Great Lakes. If the effort should fail, it is believed the voracious fish will decimate the $7 billion annual sportfishing and commercial fisheries in the lakes.
According to Todd Richmond’s reporting for the Associated Press, it’s an all-out “seek and destroy” mission. The agencies use “turncoat carp to lead them to the fish’s hotspot hideouts. The agency workers turn carp into double agents.”
Basically, some carp are captured, a transmitter is implanted, and the fish are returned to the water. From there, floating receivers placed in areas send real-time notifications when tagged fish swim past.
According to Minnesota DNR field leader Kayla Stampfle, the goal is to monitor when carp start moving in the spring and use the tagged fish to ambush their brethren. Once located, commercial fishermen surround the carp with nets and remove them.
There are four carp that are considered invasive: bighead, black, grass and silver carp. They were imported from Asia in the 1960s to help rid southern aquaculture farms of algae, weeds and parasites. But they escaped through flooding and accidental releases, found their way into the Mississippi River, procreated rapidly, and moved north into rivers and streams in the nation’s midsection, including the Ohio River.
In the Buckeye State, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources has been proactive in preventing the carp from moving north toward Lake Erie. There are some Ohio River tributaries that could allow carp move north.
Carp are voracious eaters. Adult bigheads and silvers can consume up to 40% of their bodyweight daily and could easily out-compete native species for food, which would wreak havoc on the Great Lakes aquatic ecosystem. Currently, the carp in our waterways are believed to number in the millions.
The solar-powered receivers that monitor the tagged carp are now around the Great Lakes. They track the fish and send real-time notifications of where they may be massing before a migration, in addition to illuminating overall movement patterns. This allows the agencies to plan round-up expeditions and tag more spies. The receivers can pick up signals from tagged fish over a mile away.
The work of the federal and state agencies to protect the Great Lakes is another example of the positive efforts undertaken to protect and enhance our waterways. Some would say it’s never enough, and perhaps that’s true, but we must truly applaud what is being done and recognize what it does to positively impact our marine businesses.
