2018 Monitoring and Response Plan for Asian Carp in the Mississippi River Basin
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2018 Monitoring and Response Plan for Asian Carp in the Mississippi River Basin Prepared by the Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Association Asian Carp Advisory Committee August 2018 Figure on cover page: Asian carp coordination and implementation of projects in the Mississippi River Basin is broken down into sub basins including the Ohio River Basin (green; includes the Tennessee and Cumberland rivers), Upper Mississippi River Basin (yellow), Missouri River Basin (blue) and the Lower Mississippi River Basin (purple; includes the Arkansas, Red, and White rivers). Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................................1 Spatial extent of Asian carp prevention and control projects in the Mississippi River Basin ........1 Reported Distribution of Bighead Carp, Black Carp, and Silver Carp in the Mississippi River Basin ................................................................................................................................................2 Reported Distribution of Grass Carp in the Mississippi River Basin ..............................................3 Sub-basin Asian Carp Partnerships in the Mississippi River Basin ................................................4 Structure for Inter-agency Coordination and Implementation of Asian Carp Control Strategy Frameworks in the Ohio River and Upper Mississippi River Basins ..............................................7 Ohio River Inter-Agency Asian Carp Partnership ...........................................................................8 Upper Mississippi River Inter-Agency Asian Carp Partnership ......................................................9 Ohio River Basin Project Work Plans Ohio River Basin Map .............................................................................................................10 Early Detection and Evaluation of Asian Carp Removal in the Ohio River ...........................11 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources .....................................................13 Indiana Department of Natural Resources .........................................................................18 West Virginia Division of Natural Resources ...................................................................22 Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission ..........................................................................24 Abundance and Distribution of Early Life Stages of Asian carp in the Ohio River ................36 Indiana Department of Natural Resources .........................................................................40 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources .....................................................43 West Virginia Division of Natural Resources ...................................................................45 Control and Containment of Asian Carp in the Ohio River.....................................................48 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources .....................................................50 West Virginia Division of Natural Resources ...................................................................53 Quantifying Lock and Dam Passage, Habitat Use, and Survival Rates of Asian Carp in the Ohio River ..........................................................................................................................56 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ..........................................................................................59 West Virginia Division of Natural Resources ...................................................................61 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources .....................................................63 i Relative Population Densities and Movement of Asian Carp in the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers, Tributaries of the Ohio River ..................................................................68 Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency ..............................................................................70 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources .....................................................75 Deterrent Strategy Planning for Asian Carp in the Ohio River Basin .....................................78 Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency ..............................................................................80 Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources .....................................................83 Upper Mississippi River Basin Project Work Plans Upper Mississippi River Basin Map ........................................................................................86 Early Detection of Invasive Carp on the Invasion Front in the Upper Mississippi River .......87 Minnesota Department of Natural Resources ....................................................................89 Evaluation of Controls, Impacts, and Behaviors of Asian Carp in the Lower Upper Mississippi River .....................................................................................................................94 Iowa State University .........................................................................................................96 Western Illinois University ................................................................................................98 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ........................................................................................101 Evaluation of Fish Passage for Assessment of Asian Carp Deterrents at Multiple Locks in the Upper Mississippi River...................................................................................................107 Illinois Department of Natural Resources / Western Illinois University .........................110 U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / U.S. Geological Survey ...............................................111 Contract Fishing for Asian carp Detection and Removal in the Upper Mississippi River ....116 Illinois Department of Natural Resources / Western Illinois University .........................118 Appendix A. Asian Carp projects supported by additional funding sources in the Ohio River Basin and Upper Mississippi River Basin ....................................................................................................122 Strategy for eDNA Monitoring in the Ohio River Basin .....................................................123 ii Introduction The Mississippi River and its tributaries comprise one of the largest and most ecologically and economically valuable ecosystems in the world. The Mississippi River Basin is the fourth largest watershed in the world, and the largest watershed in the nation, draining all or part of 31 states and 2 Canadian provinces (Figure 1). The watershed measures approximately 1.2 million square miles, covers 41% of the continental United States, and includes numerous large tributary systems including the Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, Red, and White rivers. Recreational boating and fishing in the Mississippi River and tributaries support many local economies throughout the Mississippi River Basin. In 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) estimated the economic output from recreational fishing in the Mississippi River Basin at more than $19 billion (USFWS, unpublished data). Figure 1. Map of the Mississippi River Basin which drains all or a portion of 31 states and 2 Canadian Provinces (green and light green). This map also highlights the spatial extent of the current implementation of Asian carp prevention and control projects (Ohio and Upper Mississippi River Basins shaded dark green and the upper 175 miles of the Illinois River and Chicago Area Waterway System shaded yellow). Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) are having negative impacts and reversing recent progress made towards ecological rehabilitation and restoration in the Mississippi River Basin. Over the past two decades four species of Asian carp (Bighead Carp, Black Carp, Grass Carp, and Silver Carp) 1 have become a basin wide issue of concern for natural resource management agencies and the public. Bighead, Silver, and Grass carps have established self-sustaining populations and are spreading throughout the Mississippi River Basin (Figures 2 and 3). In recent years, Black Carp have been captured with increasing frequency in the Lower Mississippi, Upper Mississippi (below Lock and Dam 19), Illinois, lower Ohio and lower Cumberland rivers. With the collection of young-of-the-year Black Carp in the Mississippi River Basin in 2016, it is evident that Black Carp are likely self-sustaining in the mainstem river and some major tributaries within the Mississippi River Basin. Figure 2. Distribution of Bighead Carp, Silver Carp, and Black Carps in the Mississippi River Basin as reported to the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database as of September 2018. Collections of Bighead Carp and Silver Carp by 8-digit Hydrologic Unit in the Mississippi River Basin are shaded dark pink; collections of Bighead Carp and Silver Carp by 8-digit Hydrologic Unit outside the basin are shaded light pink. Black Carp collections are indicated by yellow circles. Bighead Carp, Silver Carp, and Black Carp eggs or young-of-the-year are denoted with green triangles. 2 Figure 3. Distribution of Grass Carp in the Mississippi River Basin as reported to the USGS Nonindigenous Aquatic Species (NAS) Database as of July 2018. The Aquatic Nuisance Species Task