USGS research fish biologist Jon Amberg will present a program about the agency’s efforts to develop methods for halting the spread of Asian carp. He will give his presentation at the Wednesday, Nov. 9 meeting of the Friends of the Black River. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Jackson County Bank’s community room. The bank is located at 8 Main Street, Black River Falls.
Amberg will begin his talk with a brief overview of the history of Asian carp in the United States. The carp were imported to this country in the 1970s by southern fish farmers as a natural means for helping keep their commercial ponds clean. In the 1990s, floods allowed the fish to escape those ponds and the nonnative carp have been invading the Mississippi River and its tributaries ever since.
He will then provide a summary of the new technologies being developed to control these fishes, like repurposed carbon dioxide and complex sound as barriers as well as the development of microparticles and new species-specific control chemicals and conclude with importance of using multiple tools to manage these species as part of an integrated pest management strategy.
The voracious nonnative fish can seriously damage the fisheries of the rivers they populate. There is a grave concern about how the species would create havoc to the fishing industry if they make their way into the Great Lakes as well as the tributaries of the Mississippi River such as the Black River.
The Amberg’s program and FBR meeting is free and the public is encouraged to attend. For more information, email info_fbr@yahoo.com.