Acoustic Telemetry Monitoring of an Electric Dispersal Barrier System

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have been operating the world’s largest water borne electric dispersal barrier system (barriers) since 2002 within the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal in Romeoville, IL.  The barriers have been specifically designed to prevent the upstream passage of aquatic nuisance species, primarily Bighead and Silver Carp (Hypopthalmichthys nobilis and H. molitrix), from the Mississippi River basin into the Great Lakes.  An acoustic telemetry monitoring plan has been implemented to track local fish populations in the vicinity of the barriers as one method of assurance that the barriers are effectively deterring upstream passage.  Vemco VR2W stationary receivers are used to track broad scale movement patterns above and below the barriers while VR4 receivers are used at the barriers in a Vemco Positioning System (VPS) that provides fine scale, 2D fish tracks.  Since 2010, 148 fishes have been tagged and released near the barriers which have resulted in over 5 million detections on stationary receivers and 36 months of VPS results.  Data collection is currently ongoing but an interim report of behavioral responses under varying temporal and environmental conditions at the barriers will be discussed.