asian carp - michigan sea grant...2012/05/11 · asian carp hypopthalmichthys molitrix (silver)...

ASIAN CARP Hypopthalmichthys molitrix (Silver) Hypopthalmichthys nobilis (Bighead) Description: Silver and bighead carp have low-set eyes that sit far forward on their heads and large, upturned mouths. Large specimens can weigh up to 60-110 pounds. Silver carp are light grey in color while bighead carp are darker gray with splotches covering most of their body. • The carp could decrease the plankton available for smaller forage fish, like native minnows, which may cause drops in the forage fish populations. • Less forage fish would mean less food for bigger fish like walleye and pike to eat, which disrupts the food web at that level as well. • Less plankton could also change substance levels in water. For example, it could lead to increases in nitrogen and phosphorus levels, resulting in more frequent harmful algal blooms. • Silver carp pose a physical threat to boaters as the fish jump out of the water when disturbed by boat motors. What’s Being Done? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), along with several other agencies, installed electric barriers along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent bighead and silver carp from moving between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds. Complete ecological separation is being explored, as well as other strategies to reduce the spread of invasive species. How You Can Help If you catch what you suspect is a bighead or silver carp in the Great Lakes or adjacent waters: • Do NOT put it back in the water. Photograph or freeze a dead specimen. • Note the date and exact location (GPS coordinates if possible) of capture. • Contact the Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous Species Information System at (734) 741-2287 or email: [email protected] • See www.ProtectYourWaters.net to learn more about preventing the spread of invasive species. O’Keefe Distinguishing Features and Behavior • Hungry: Silver and bighead carp are planktivores, meaning they eat both microscopic plants (phytoplankton) and microscopic animals (zooplankton). When bighead carp are young, they can consume up to 140% of their body weight in a day, but consume far less when adults. • Getting Warmer: Silver and bighead carp prefer warmer water temperatures and fast-moving waters. Some warmer areas in the Great Lakes, like Lake Erie, Green Bay and Saginaw Bay may be more attractive to the carp than colder, deep water. • Jumpy: Silver carp can leap up to 10 feet out of the water when disturbed by vibrations like that of a boat motor. They have been known to seriously injure boaters and jet skiers. This Fugitive’s Story Silver and bighead carp were brought into the U.S. in the 1970s to improve water quality in aquaculture ponds and water treatment systems. It is likely they entered the Mississippi River system when the ponds flooded in the 1990s, and the carp have been making their way north ever since. Despite the operation of electric barriers on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship canal, a live bighead carp was caught on the Lake Michigan side of the barriers in June 2010. Environmental DNA (eDNA) testing found evidence that suggests both silver and bighead carp are present in Lake Michigan. The Problem If silver and bighead carp become established, they are believed to pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem and the economic value of sport and commercial fishing. • Most Great Lakes native fish are dependent upon plankton as a food source and would have to compete with Asian carp for food. Michigan Sea Grant www.miseagrant.umich.edu/ais Silver carp Bighead carp Tomelleri USGS Brenner Copyright Michigan Sea Grant College Program and the Regents of the University of Michigan. MICHU-11-707

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ASIAN CARPHypopthalmichthys molitrix (Silver) Hypopthalmichthys nobilis (Bighead)

Description: Silver and bighead carp have low-set eyes that sit far forward on their heads and large, upturned mouths. Large specimens can weigh up to 60-110 pounds. Silver carp are light grey in color while bighead carp are darker gray with splotches covering most of their body.

• The carp could decrease the plankton available for smaller forage fish, like native minnows, which may cause drops in the forage fish populations.

• Less forage fish would mean less food for bigger fish like walleye and pike to eat, which disrupts the food web at that level as well.

• Less plankton could also change substance levels in water. For example, it could lead to increases in nitrogen and phosphorus levels, resulting in more frequent harmful algal blooms.

• Silver carp pose a physical threat to boaters as the fish jump out of the water when disturbed by boat motors.

What’s Being Done?The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), along with several other agencies, installed electric barriers along the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent bighead and silver carp from moving between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds. Complete ecological separation is being explored, as well as other strategies to reduce the spread of invasive species.

How You Can HelpIf you catch what you suspect is a bighead or silver carp in the Great Lakes or adjacent waters:• Do NOT put it back in the water. Photograph or

freeze a dead specimen. • Note the date and exact location (GPS coordinates

if possible) of capture. • Contact the Great Lakes Aquatic Nonindigenous

Species Information System at (734) 741-2287 or email: [email protected]

• See www.ProtectYourWaters.net to learn more about preventing the spread of invasive species.

O’Keefe

Distinguishing Features and Behavior• Hungry: Silver and bighead carp are

planktivores, meaning they eat both microscopic plants (phytoplankton) and microscopic animals (zooplankton). When bighead carp are young, they can consume up to 140% of their body weight in a day, but consume far less when adults.

• Getting Warmer: Silver and bighead carp prefer warmer water temperatures and fast-moving waters. Some warmer areas in the Great Lakes, like Lake Erie, Green Bay and Saginaw Bay may be more attractive to the carp than colder, deep water.

• Jumpy: Silver carp can leap up to 10 feet out of the water when disturbed by vibrations like that of a boat motor. They have been known to seriously injure boaters and jet skiers.

This Fugitive’s StorySilver and bighead carp were brought into the U.S. in the 1970s to improve water quality in aquaculture ponds and water treatment systems. It is likely they entered the Mississippi River system when the ponds flooded in the 1990s, and the carp have been making their way north ever since.

Despite the operation of electric barriers on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship canal, a live bighead carp was caught on the Lake Michigan side of the barriers in June 2010. Environmental DNA (eDNA) testing found evidence that suggests both silver and bighead carp are present in Lake Michigan.

The ProblemIf silver and bighead carp become established, they are believed to pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes ecosystem and the economic value of sport and commercial fishing. • Most Great Lakes native fish are dependent upon

plankton as a food source and would have to compete with Asian carp for food.

Michigan Sea Grant www.miseagrant.umich.edu/ais

Silver carp

Bighead carp

Tomelleri

USGS

Brenner

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Asian Carp Distribution in North AmericaUpdated April 2014 2 Map 1. Distribution of both bighead and silver carp in the Mississippi River, Ohio Riv er, and Great Lakes in North America

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