Asian carp verified in Pool 2 and St Croix

[mwal]

Star Tribune online just broke story that Asian Carp are verified in the St Croix from Talyors falls to Prescott and in the Mississippi To at least the Ford dam. News conference by DNR head this afternoon. Also mentioned that the Ford lock may be permanently shutdown to stop the spread. If the get above Ford they can go upriver and spread into Mill lacs etc via the tributaries to the Mississippi.

MWal

[jwmiller33]

Quote:

Fear realized: Asian carp in Twin Cities waters

Sensitive water tests of the Mississippi River below the Ford Dam in the Twin Cities and the St. Croix River between Prescott, Wis., and Taylors Falls have revealed the presence of Asian carp, the National Park Service and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources will say at an afternoon news conference Thursday, according to sources briefed by the agencies.

In response, a coalition of environmental organizations will argue at the news conference at Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) headquarters in St. Paul that Lock and Dam 1 -- also known as the Ford Dam -- and/or the dam at Upper St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis should be permanently closed to prevent carp from reaching the Mississippi above the Twin Cities.

The groups, including the National Wildlife Federation, Audubon Minnesota and the Izaak Walton League, have studied the amount and types of barge traffic using the locks and say the effect of a shutdown would be relatively minimal.

Most barges traveling through the locks carry sand and gravel, and coal to the University of Minnesota, the groups say, and those shipments can be made other ways.

Closing the locks is the only certain way to prevent Asian carp from eventually invading northern Minnesota waters, according to the environmental organizations.

A bonding bill passed by the Legislature in its special session and signed by Gov. Mark Dayton included $16 million to rebuild the Coon Rapids dam, an action supporters say will stop the upward migration of Asian carp in most, but not all, years, given the variable flooding that occurs on the Mississippi each spring.

The environmental DNA (eDNA) tests were conducted in late June by a private contractor and were designed to detect the presence of DNA material left by Asian carp through their mucous and excrement.

Eight bighead carp have been found in Minnesota since 1996. The bighead is one of four species of Asian carp that are invasive to American rivers. That includes the dreaded silver carp, which can leap from the water, knocking people out of their boats.

On hand for the announcement at DNR headquarters in St. Paul will be department Commissioner Tom Landwehr, Paul Labovitz, National Park Service and superintendent of the Mississippi National River & Recreation Area, and DNR fisheries biologist Tim Schlagenhaft.

Late last month, federal officials announced the beginning of intensive monitoring of waterways near Lake Michigan after genetic material from Asian carp showed up in a third consecutive round of testing.

The Lake Michigan monitoring involves using electric jolts to stun fish, sweeping the waterway with half-mile-long nets and conducting additional sampling in Lake Calumet and the Calumet River near Chicago.

Two Asian carp species -- the bighead and the silver -- are threatening to enter the Great Lakes after migrating northward from the South for decades.

Some scientists say that if the large, voracious carp establish a foothold in the Great Lakes and other Midwest waterways, they could unravel the food web by gobbling plankton needed by smaller fish that feed prized sport varieties such as walleye and trout.

Audubon Minnesota is concerned that the food sources of a wide variety of water birds also could be depleted by the carp's presence.

Five states -- Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin -- have filed a federal lawsuit demanding quicker action.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

[River Dan]

Testing shows, want to learn more about the testing done. show me bodies

[frazwood]

Testing shows, want to learn more about the testing done. show me bodies

I'm thinking the same thing.

My best guess is that they are using a technique called polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Basically, PCR is able to detect very very small quantities of DNA... so it's incredibly sensitive. This is the same technique that the FBI might use on evidence from a crime scene from decades ago; it's so sensitive, all you need is a little bit of hair, or a drop of dried blood, etc., to determine "whodunit".

The key point here is that there is no evidence of bodies, only evidence of their DNA. The story that I read hints at this, but doesn't go in this detail. If someone were to throw a dead asain carp in the river, then it'd show up as a positive test. The bigger issue isn't the presence of bodies, but the presence of reproducing bodies.

Still, it's not good news...