Re: [Paddlewise] Seeing Red?

Gordin Warner wrote:  Is it possible to paddle the canal where they're
running the electrical current through the water in a last desperate
effort to keep the Asian Carp from the Mississippi from migrating into
Lake Michigan? Or would you get tingling feelings up your arm  every
time you dipped your paddle. I image the water is a nice coffee and
cream brown!


Me:

The Sanitary and Ship (Shit) Canal was dug to reverse the flow of the
Chicago River from emptying into Lake Michigan.  Now it sends its waters
to the Mississippi, eventually.  Solved the cholera problem.  The canal
is surprisingly fun to paddle - it has decent scenery along much of the
way and I enjoy surfing the wakes of the barge pushers.  The water often
looks greenish, sometimes brownish depending on the sky.

I haven't paddled over the barriers, but others have without noticing
anything.  I have often kayaked around DNR boats during fish shockings
and never felt anything.

One lone Asian carp was found so far amongst the thousands of dead fish.

Here is an article from the Chicago Tribune:

Joel Hood Tribune reporter 
December 4, 2009

Dozens of boats combed the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in the
pre-dawn hours Thursday, finding a lone Asian carp among tens of
thousands of poisoned fish.

After officials launched what's believed to be the largest deliberate
fish kill in state history Wednesday night, biologists sifted through
the carnage at dump sites along the popular shipping canal near
Romeoville. But by late Thursday evening, they had identified just one
22-inch Asian carp, an invasive fish that officials say has the
potential to devastate the region's commercial fishing industry if
allowed to enter the Great Lakes.

Though some might question a three-day, $3 million fish kill if few
Asian carp are found, biologists know the fewer carp discovered, the
better the long-term health of the popular shipping canal.

"We can't say how many (Asian carp) there are out there. We're still in
the beginning stages," said John Rogner assistant director of the
Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Illinois has been locked in a 15-year battle to limit the spread of the
voracious Asian carp, which can grow to up to 110 pounds and can eat
several times their body weight a day. When researchers found the carp
were pushing north up the shipping canal toward Lake Michigan, the Army
Corps of Engineers erected two underwater electric barriers above
Lockport Dam that effectively repel the carp when they come too close.

When the Army Corps made plans to shut down one of the electric barriers
for maintenance this week, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources
responded Wednesday night by dumping 2,200 gallons of the toxin rotenone
into the canal. Rotenone is deadly for fish but not harmful to humans,
animals or most other aquatic life.

Crews returned to the canal by 4 a.m. Thursday to begin collecting the
scores of dead fish that began floating to the surface. They scooped
them from the water with nets and piled them along the canal for
inspection. The fish will eventually be deposited at an area landfill.
Success of the project won't be determined by how many Asian carp are
found, but rather what biologists learn about them and by ensuring they
don't go beyond the electric barriers while under repair, said Illinois
DNR spokesman Chris McCloud.

"We couldn't take a chance that while the barrier is down, Asian carp
are allowed to swim freely up the canal," McCloud said. "There's too
much at stake to do nothing. We'd rather err on the side of caution."

A key question biologists will try to answer during the fish kill is how
large a population of Asian carp exists around the electric barriers.
Researchers have collected fish DNA indicating that the invasive carp
are present in the canal and have advanced beyond the barriers, but
there have been few sightings of the carp in that location.
McCloud said some of the data collected this week will help biologists
figure out the reliability of those DNA samples.

The Asian carp found Thursday was discovered near Lockport Dam, nearly
six miles from the barriers. Finding only one carp suggests the
population in that part of the canal is smaller than feared, which is
great news, officials said.

"The bottom line is we have to know what we're dealing with," McCloud
said. "We have to know where they are and how many there are."

By Thursday evening, biologists had begun applying a detoxifying agent
to the water to limit the spread of rotenone below the six-mile
designated kill area.

The Coast Guard has closed that part of the canal to boat traffic until
the project is done, which is expected to be late Saturday.

- end of article -

Me again:

One of the problems with these fish is that they escape detection by
'normal' means, which is electrical shock. As I said, I have seen many
shockings.  The fish float up to the surface but are usually ready to
swim back right after measuring and weighing.  A USGS article about the
carp says:

"Asian carp are not readily caught with some sampling gears. For
example, they are often seen breaking the water surface many meters
ahead and along the sides of our electrofishing boats. Asian carp have
often entered our boats without the use of dip nets. In fact, many of
our staff members have been hit multiple times by large jumping fish.
>From 1990 to 1999, 69% of Asian carp shorter than 20 cm were collected
by mini-fyke netting. Asian carp 20 to 60 cm were primarily collected by
day electrofishing (49%) and hoop netting (15%). Asian carp larger than
60 cm were primarily collected by hoop netting (42%). These results
indicate that multiple sampling gears may be needed for assessing the
abundance and size structure of Asian carp populations in our large
rivers."

So it has been very difficult to know if the fish had got past the
barriers or not. One concern is that, if they can resist being shocked
in population studies, maybe they can resist the currents being used to
keep them out of the lake.

I'm guessing that you didn't anticipate such a long.  Hope you're still
awake.


Jim Tibensky
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