Evaluation of Asian Carp Net Avoidance Behavior for Capture Enhancement

Asian carp have been expanding their range in North America since their introduction in the early 1970s. They are now abundant in the Mississippi, Illinois, and Missouri River drainages and now threaten to enter the Great Lakes.  Asian carp appear to have highly developed net-avoidance behavior and are skittish when approached by boats. They are known for leaping out of the water when stressed by boat noise or when confronted with barriers such as shorelines, wing dikes, and gill nets.  Asian carp often jump over nets to avoid being caught. Improving Asian carp capture techniques would be beneficial for early detection and management. Their underwater behavior is largely unknown due to high turbidity in invaded areas. The ability to describe Asian carp behavior through Dual-Frequency Identification Sonar (DIDSON) technology could result in improved methods to capture these elusive fish. The goal our project is to observe and quantify Asian carp behaviors that result in net avoidance related to capture efficiency metrics of various traditional capture gears, and formulate suggestions for gear modifications that might mitigate evasive behavior.