Monitoring Common Carp Movement in Response to Acoustic and Strobe-Light Barriers

The most likely pathway of Asian carp invasions into the Great Lakes is dispersal across geographic bottlenecks, such as canals or rivers. Non-permanent, behavioural barriers have been proposed as an inexpensive means to prevent carp expansion past these bottlenecks while maintaining water flow and human use. Our research examines Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) behaviour in response to acoustic and strobe-light stimuli. An outdoor mesocosm with an environment similar to a canal was used to observe Common Carp movement, activity, and passes across a barrier. Common Carp (n=13) were implanted with acoustic telemetry tags and their behaviour was compared between trials with exposure to control, acoustic, and strobe-light barriers for 60-minute periods. Trials were run during both day and night. 12 strobe lights were deployed across the mesocosm centre at water depths of 3 m and 6 m. The acoustic stimulus is a combination of a marine engine, a 200-1400Hz sweep, and a 200-1500Hz bandsweep. The acoustic stimulus was played through an underwater speaker at a depth of 4 m and a sound pressure of 160db. These findings may help inform policy and management decisions regarding the potential use of behavioural barriers against Asian carps and other aquatic invasive species.