Asian Carp Studies and Reports
GLMRIS
Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study
On January 6, 2014, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Report was released to the public and submitted to Congress. The GLMRIS Report presents options for preventing movement of Asian carp and other invasive species into the Great Lakes from the Chicago waterways.
Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study
On January 6, 2014, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) Report was released to the public and submitted to Congress. The GLMRIS Report presents options for preventing movement of Asian carp and other invasive species into the Great Lakes from the Chicago waterways.
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The report contains eight alternatives, each with concept-level design and cost information, and evaluates the potential of these alternatives to control the spread of 13 ANS, including Asian Carp. The options concentrate on the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) and include a wide spectrum of alternatives ranging from continuing current activities to complete separation of the watersheds.
Each of the eight alternative plans that are presented in the GLMRIS Report includes a general location, conceptual design elements, estimated implementation time, and cost information. The report also includes potential mitigation measures to address impacts to uses of the CAWS resulting from the implementation of the range of alternatives. |
The 8 alternatives presented in the report include:
- Continuing current efforts (i.e., the electric barriers) with “No New Federal Action - Sustained Activities.”
- Nonstructural control technologies (i.e., education, monitoring, herbicides, ballast water management).
- A technology concept involving a specialized lock, lock channel, electric barriers and ANS treatment plants at two mid-system locations in the CAWS.
- A technology concept (CAWS buffer zone) using the same technologies as number 3, preventing downstream passage from Lake Michigan at five points and preventing upstream passage at a single point at Brandon Road Lock and Dam.
- Lakefront hydrologic separation with physical barriers separating the basins at four locations along the lakefront of Lake Michigan.
- Mid-system hydrologic separation with physical barriers separating the basins at two mid-system locations.
- A hybrid of technology and physical barriers at four mid-system locations, leaving the Cal-Sag channel open.
- A hybrid of technology and physical barriers at four mid-system locations, leaving the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal open.
For more information on GLMRIS, visit http://glmris.anl.gov/
GLMRIS Interim Products
Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study
In collaboration with other Federal and State Agencies, local governments and non-governmental organizations, the USACE is conducting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). GLMRIS will explore options and technologies, collectively known as ANS controls, that could be applied to prevent ANS transfer between the basins through aquatic pathways. As part of this study, USACE will conduct a detailed analysis of various ANS controls, including hydrologic separation.
Some specific tasks of GLMRIS include:
Great Lakes Mississippi River Interbasin Study
In collaboration with other Federal and State Agencies, local governments and non-governmental organizations, the USACE is conducting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS). GLMRIS will explore options and technologies, collectively known as ANS controls, that could be applied to prevent ANS transfer between the basins through aquatic pathways. As part of this study, USACE will conduct a detailed analysis of various ANS controls, including hydrologic separation.
Some specific tasks of GLMRIS include:
- Identify aquatic pathways that may exist between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins.
- Inventory current and future potential aquatic nuisance species.
- Analyze possible ANS controls to prevent or reduce the risk of ANS transfer.
- Analyze the impacts each ANS control may have on existing waterway uses.
- Recommend a plan to prevent or reduce the risk of ANS transfer between the basins and, if necessary, the plan will include mitigation measures for impacted waterway uses and significant natural resources.
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Inventory of Available Controls for Aquatic Nuisance Species of Concern –
Chicago Area Waterway System This ANS Control Paper identifies available options or technologies (ANS Controls) that may be effective at preventing the transfer of the 39 ANS of Concern, which were identified in the ANS White Paper, from transferring through the aquatic pathways in the CAWS, as well as other potential aquatic pathways. |
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Other Pathways Preliminary Risk Characterization Report
This risk characterization describes the threats posed by the potential for aquatic nuisance species (ANS) to use surface water pathways to cross the drainage divide that separates surface water flow into the Great Lakes from surface water flow into the Mississippi River basin. The divide extends from New York to Minnesota. This report evaluates pathways other than the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) which will be addressed in a separate study. |
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Baseline Assessment of Cargo Traffic on the CAWS
This assessment is intended to present commodity traffic data, as it relates to its movement into CAWS, through CAWS, and within CAWS. The report also details commodity traffic and commodity group traffic through the CAWS locks, relative to the CAWS and the overall Illinois Waterway; historic traffic trends; consumers of the products and how they are typically used and how they generally move throughout the system. |
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Treaty Rights and Subsistence Fishing in the U.S. Waters of the Great Lakes, Upper Mississippi River and Ohio River Basins Report
The Subsistence Fishing Report is an overview of the harvest activities by Native American tribes through treaty rights within the study area and assesses the economic and cultural importance of subsistence harvesting for tribal communities. |
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Pro-Fishing Tournaments in the Great Lakes, Upper Mississippi River and Ohio River Basins Report
The Pro-fishing Report acts as a snapshot of pro-fishing tournaments within the study area. It provides qualitative data for various tournaments, including descriptions of the types of tournaments and information on the rules and other elements. |
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Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study Report Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21), Section 1538(b)(5) Interim Report to Congress
The Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS) 90-Day Interim Report was transmitted by the Secretary of the Army, Civil Works, to Congress on October 4, 2012. The 90 Day Interim Report outlines anticipated milestones, required resources and a plan for the completion of the GLMRIS Report, which will evaluate a range of options and technologies to prevent the transfer of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins by aquatic pathways, by December 2013, as required by Section 1538 of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act. |
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Focus Area 2 Aquatic Pathways Assessment Summary Report
This report presents the methodology and key evidence used to assess the potential for transfer of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins through several aquatic pathways. The overall objective of the Focus Area 2 portion of GLMRIS is to produce an interim report for each potential aquatic pathway that is found between the two basins. Each report evaluates key evidence from the available information to qualitatively estimate the likelihood of an aquatic pathway forming and ANS being able to utilize it to reach the adjacent basin. A total of 18 potential aquatic pathway reports, and one report for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, will be released in phases, by state, as part of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study (GLMRIS), Focus Area 2. To access the individual reports, visit the GLMRIS website, http://glmris.anl.gov/other-pathways/ |
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Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) White Paper: Non-Native Species of Concern and Dispersal Risk for the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study.
The purpose of the ANS White Paper is to catalog potential non-native species within the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins and identify which ANS of concern will be an initial focus in GLMRIS. Thirty-nine (39) aquatic nuisance species are identified in the ANS White Paper as ANS of Concern for GLMRIS Focus Area I (CAWS): 10 are of concern to the Great Lakes Basin and 29 are of concern to the Mississippi River Basin. |
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Restoring the Natural Divide: Separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins in the Chicago Area Waterway System
A report “Restoring the Natural Divide: Separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins in the Chicago Area Waterway System” was released January 31, 2012 by the Great Lakes Commission and the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative. The report identified strategies for restoring the natural divide between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes and, in the process, modernizing the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). The report outlined three separation alternatives which included a down-river single barrier between the confluence of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and the Cal-Sag Channel and the Lockport Lock; a mid-system alternative of four barriers on CAWS branches between Lockport and Lake Michigan; and a near-lake alternative of up to five barriers closest to the lakeshore. All three include measures to improve the CAWS’s role in flood management, wastewater treatment, and maritime transportation, as well as stopping the interbasin movement of aquatic invasive species. No recommended alternative is identified. However, one alternative, the mid-system solution, is the least costly and offers other advantages. |
Illustration: Great Lakes Commission
This illustration and others are available at http://www.glc.org/caws. |
The study reports that the cost for separation ranges between $3.2 billion and $9.5 billion and is targeted for completion between 2022 and 2029, depending on where the barriers would be built and to what extent waste-water treatment and navigation systems would be upgraded.
This report shows that separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to prevent the spread of Asian carp and other invasive species is not only feasible both technically and economically, but is also a natural step toward much-needed action to improve Chicago’s water infrastructure. This is further justification that we should get construction started soon rather than wait another 5 years for the USACE to study the problem.
This report shows that separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins to prevent the spread of Asian carp and other invasive species is not only feasible both technically and economically, but is also a natural step toward much-needed action to improve Chicago’s water infrastructure. This is further justification that we should get construction started soon rather than wait another 5 years for the USACE to study the problem.
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Available Downloads:
Additional materials are available at www.glc.org/caws.
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Binational Ecological Risk Assessment of Bighead Carps
(Hypophthalmichthys spp.) for the Great Lakes Basin
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canadian released a study in July 2012 affirming that all five Great Lakes are hospitable to Asian carp and that once established the non-native fish will likely disrupt the native fishery, alter the ecosystem and create another food web. Previously, scientists have differed on what is likely to happen if a sizable number breach the barriers and slip into Lake Michigan. Some said the voracious, hardy carp could become established in large sections of the Great Lakes, where they would starve out competitors for plankton and jeopardize the region's $7 billion fishing industry. Some said the lakes might be too cold or have too few tributary rivers where the carp can spawn — and their food supply could run short because zebra and quagga mussels have devoured much of the plankton. The U.S.-Canadian study was designed to focus on such issues and determine if Asian carp could survive and thrive in the Great Lakes ecosystem. The study found that it would take as few as 10 female and 10 or fewer male Asian carp of reproductive age to reproduce in the Great Lakes.
Key points from the study include:
(Hypophthalmichthys spp.) for the Great Lakes Basin
The Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canadian released a study in July 2012 affirming that all five Great Lakes are hospitable to Asian carp and that once established the non-native fish will likely disrupt the native fishery, alter the ecosystem and create another food web. Previously, scientists have differed on what is likely to happen if a sizable number breach the barriers and slip into Lake Michigan. Some said the voracious, hardy carp could become established in large sections of the Great Lakes, where they would starve out competitors for plankton and jeopardize the region's $7 billion fishing industry. Some said the lakes might be too cold or have too few tributary rivers where the carp can spawn — and their food supply could run short because zebra and quagga mussels have devoured much of the plankton. The U.S.-Canadian study was designed to focus on such issues and determine if Asian carp could survive and thrive in the Great Lakes ecosystem. The study found that it would take as few as 10 female and 10 or fewer male Asian carp of reproductive age to reproduce in the Great Lakes.
Key points from the study include:
- The most likely entry point into the Great Lakes basin is the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) into Lake Michigan. The effectiveness of the electrical barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) was not evaluated. Nevertheless, the complex nature of the CAWS and proximity of bigheaded carp populations led to the conclusion this is the most likely entry point.
- Once bigheaded carps have gained entry into the basin, they are expected to spread to other lakes within 20 years. The spread will be more rapid for lakes Michigan, Huron, and Erie, and potentially Lake Superior; longer for Lake Ontario.
- Bigheaded carps would find suitable food, and thermal and spawning habitats in the Great Lakes basin that would allow them to survive and become established. The areas that would be attractive and favorable are Lake Erie, including Lake St. Clair, and high productivity embayments of lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron and Ontario.
- There is a greater than 50% probability of successful mating each year with very few (< 10) adult females (and a similar number of adult males) within the basin of a Great Lake.
- Population growth is most sensitive to the survivorship of juveniles.
- The consequences of an established bigheaded carp population are expected to include changes in planktonic communities, reduction in planktivore biomass, reduced recruitment of fishes with early pelagic life stages, and reduced stocks of piscivores.
- To reduce the probability of introduction (either at the arrival, survival, establishment or spread stage), and delay or reduce subsequent ecological consequences, immediate prevention activities would be most effective, especially in conjunction with population management activities at the invasion front.
United States Army Corps of Engineers Dispersal Barrier Efficacy Study Final Report
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The Dispersal Barrier and Interim Report I
The fish dispersal barrier project represents a unique, but temporary solution to an imminent threat: the risk of an inter-basin transfer of fish between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins. This Interim Report (Interim I- Dispersal Barrier Bypass Risk Reduction Study & Integrated Environmental Assessment) investigates emergency measures (various structures and no action) that reduces risk of the Asian carps bypassing the Dispersal Barrier vis-à-vis overland flow from the Des Plaines River to the CSSC and flow through culverts in the Illinois and Michigan (I&M) Canal to the CSSC. |
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Interim Report II
The study will be done in three phases to determine the most optimal operating parameters for the dispersal barriers. The first two phases, A and B, tested tanks to define optimal parameters and was completed in December of 2009. Phase C, utilizes flume tests to validate optimal parameters under actual field conditions, thereby gleaning more realistic results. |
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Interim Report III
Interim III, Modified Structures Operations, Chicago Area Waterways Risk Reduction Study and Integrated Environmental Assessment,” evaluated the potential for risk reduction that might be achieved through changes in the operation of the Chicago Area Waterway structures, such as locks, sluice gates, and pumping stations. |
Asian Carp Coordinating Committee Reports
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Environmental DNA Calibration Study Interim Technical Review Report
This report contains technical results through December 2012 from the Environmental DNA Calibration Study (ECALS). Environmental DNA Calibration Study (ECALS) is a three-year study to improve the understanding and interpretation of Asian carp environmental DNA (eDNA) results. The purpose of ECALS is to investigate alternative sources and pathways for eDNA detections beyond a live fish, examine how environmental variables such as light, temperature and water velocity impact eDNA detections, explore the correlation between the number of positive samples and the strength of the DNA source, develop more efficient eDNA markers to cut the sampling processing time in half and model eDNA transport specific to the Chicago Area Waterway System. |
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Monitoring and Response Plans
The plans outline actions for Asian carp monitoring and removal in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) and upper Illinois Waterway. In addition, the plan identifies on-going actions to evaluate the effectiveness of barriers (electrical, chemical, and physical) and gears (e.g. electrofishing, gill/trammel netting, and trap netting) used in the effort to keep Asian carp from becoming established in the CAWS and Lake Michigan. |
Asian Carp Action Plans
Developed annually since 2010, the Action Plan, formerly titled the Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework, has evolved to incorporate advances in the scientific body of knowledge on Asian carp population status, life history, and risk; and the latest developments in detection, prevention, and control capabilities. Action Plans build upon prior Asian carp strategies by applying “lessons learned” and using an adaptive management approach. Many of these actions target a specific Asian carp behavior or life stage to achieve the maximum collective impact on fish populations. These actions are intended to dramatically reduce the Asian carp populations at locations near the electric barrier and reduce threat of dispersal towards the Great Lakes |
USFWS Barge Study Results
Since early 2012, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Carterville Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (FWCO) has been performing fish-barge interaction evaluations at the electric dispersal barrier system in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC). The preliminary results show that it is possible that barges moving downstream (away from Lake Michigan) can temporarily cause a decrease in the electric charge in the canal and cause water in the canal to reverse direction and flow upstream (toward Lake Michigan). These combined effects could increase the risk of small fish being able to move upstream through the electric barrier.
Since early 2012, the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Carterville Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office (FWCO) has been performing fish-barge interaction evaluations at the electric dispersal barrier system in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC). The preliminary results show that it is possible that barges moving downstream (away from Lake Michigan) can temporarily cause a decrease in the electric charge in the canal and cause water in the canal to reverse direction and flow upstream (toward Lake Michigan). These combined effects could increase the risk of small fish being able to move upstream through the electric barrier.
More Information About Asian Carp
