Silver and Bighead Carp Movements in the Wabash River, Indiana

As Asian carp (Hypopthalmichthys spp.) continue to spread through the Midwestern United States, it is necessary to examine and evaluate their impacts on aquatic ecosystems.  Movements of fish can help elucidate important information regarding a variety of potential influences and impacts.  Habitat use and requirements, spawning location, movement potential and distribution can all be inferred from telemetry-based movement patterns.  Recent recognition of the potential for introduction of Asian carp to the Maumee River basin via the Wabash River, IN, has caused great concern given the Maumee River’s connection to Lake Erie.  Understanding the movements of Asian carp in the Wabash River can help us to better understand this potential mechanism for their introduction to the Great Lakes.  Therefore, 100 individuals will be collected from locations throughout the Wabash River and its tributaries and then surgically implanted with Vemco V16 acoustic tags.  Movements of these individuals will be monitored with a combination of VemcoVR2W stationary receivers positioned in an array over approximately 300 river miles as well as manual tracking using a Vemco VR100 receiver.  Based on these telemetry data, we will describe movements, habitat use and distributions of silver and bighead carp in the Wabash River.