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US Geological Survey tags, studies silver carp in Illinois River · Illinois Valley - Shaw Local

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  US Geological Survey tags study Silvercarp and Illinois River. Written by Michael
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  Urbanek This article is being read by an automated voice brought to
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  you by Everlet. US Geological Survey scientists were in Allen Park in
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  Ottawa on Wednesday collecting, weighing, measuring, tagging and releasing invasive silver carp
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  back into the Illinois River.
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  The scientists were studying how efficient their ongoing removal efforts are in
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  the Starved Rock field.
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  We tag 1,000 fish, and then commercial fishermen report those tags as
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  they encounter them over the next couple of weeks and months when
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  they’re out doing removals, said Scientist Jessica Stanton. Then, we know how
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  many tags we put out and depending on how many we get
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  back, we can estimate the percentage of the removal rate.
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  Scientists left the boat ramp on the west side of Allen Park
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  to head into the river and returned with approximately 15-20 carp each
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  time.
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  Stanton said they collect these fish’s measurements, length and sex, which provides
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  the US Geological Survey with data on how efficient their removal effort
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  has been. She said so many silver carp are removed from rivers
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  every year, but they don’t have a good idea of what percentage
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  of the total population that makes up.
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  She said silver carp are invasive and compete with native fish, which
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  has an impact on both recreational fishing and commercial fishing. Silver carp
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  often eat much more and reproduce much more quickly than other fish
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  that are native to North America.
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  Stanton said the next step will be to get an estimate of
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  what the current population of silver carp is and then adjust their
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  current plans from there.