The Role of Telemetry Techniques and Mark-Recapture Models in the Management of Asian Carp

From 2011-2014 the Illinois Department of Natural Resources has contracted commercial fishers to remove Asian Carp from the Upper Illinois River (Starved Rock, Marseilles, Dresden pools). Over this time, 800 Asian carp have been marked with individually numbered $5 reward tags in the Marseilles and Starved Rock pools.  In addition, over 900 Asian Carp have been implanted with acoustic transmitters and jaw tagged with $50 reward tags. Using dead recaptures (jaw tags) and a Link-Barker mark-recapture model, we were able to assess survival, exploitation, and immigration rates in two backwater areas of the Illinois River. By combining dead recaptures (removed fish) and live recaptures (acoustic tags), we were able to use additional mark-recapture models to assess overall exploitation rates in the upper Illinois River and provides baseline estimates of commercial fishing success.  Results from dead recaptures yielded exploitation rates for the 2012 commercial fishing season of 89% (for fish present at the beginning of the study), suggesting that commercial fishing is very efficient at removing fish.  However, estimates of immigration into backwaters during high flow years were enough to create a constant influx of fish into Illinois River backwaters, suggesting that downstream removal might be necessary to curtail movement.