Common carp are one of Minnesota’s most ubiquitous invasive species, but researchers at MAISRC have made significant strides toward controlling them. These accomplishments show that success with invasive species is possible. All species have weaknesses that can be targeted for control, we just have to look closely to find them. Click here to learn more about common carp and their impacts.
Key findings and accomplishments
- Succeeded in controlling carp populations in the Riley and Phalen watersheds, using a combination of tools including seining, removal at barriers sites in streams, and winter aeration
- Completed first-of-their-kind controlled experiments and confirmed that bluegills could be harnessed to reduce common carps’ reproductive success by consuming their eggs and larvae
- Developed state-of-the-art carp transgenesis capabilities in our Containment Lab so researchers have year-round access to young carp embryos for research into developing a synthetic barrier to reproduction that will lead to sterile offspring
- Found that carp can be trained to aggregate in specific areas of lakes using food, providing opportunities for a bait-and-switch method of control using toxins
- Found that common carp do not have the ability to avoid bait that contains toxins, a precursor to using the bait-and-switch method for control
- Confirmed the presence of Carp Edema Virus for the first time in Minnesota. We are learning more about this virus, along with Koi Herpes Virus, and considering their potential as biocontrol agents for carp
- Determined the biomass threshold at which carp become damaging to lake ecosystems, which allows managers to set clear management goals
- Used winter seining to remove up to 90% of adult carp in lakes by targeting aggregations
- Developed rapid-assessment methods to estimate carp biomass in lakes using boat electrofishing
- Discovered that common carp regenerate their reproductive organs approximately a year following gonadectomy, an unexpected finding following efforts to develop the Judas fish technique
- Conducted an analysis across hundreds of lakes and found that carp may have stronger effect on water quality than land use, and that carp removal may restore water quality even in agricultural watersheds
- Discovered that sex pheromones can be used to locate carp and attract them for removal
- Determined that common carp return to home lakes to spawn, like salmon, which is important for selecting locations to disrupt their life cycle
- Established that eDNA concentrations were very high where common carp densities were high, but dropped precipitously in time and space, suggesting eDNA decays very quickly
- Used common carp as an assay to optimize techniques to capture and extract environmental DNA for detection and quantification of fish
- Implemented a successful control plan in the Riley Chain of Lakes and the Phalen Chain of Lakes; including seining fish once they are aggregated, using bluegill sunfish to consume carp eggs and larvae, and using aeration to prevent winterkills
- Identified two novel viruses from common carp and grass carp mortality events: novel picornavirus and novel paramyxovirus
Published papers
- Attracting Common Carp to a bait site with food reveals strong positive relationships between fish density, feeding activity, environmental DNA, and sex pheromone release that could be used in fish management
- Control of the common carp through species-specific toxin delivery systems and biocontrol by bluegill sunfish
- Effect of non-native versus native invaders on macrophyte richness: are carp and bullheads ecological proxies?
- Assessing the efficacy of corn-based bait containing antimycin-a to control common carp populations using laboratory and pond experiments
- Source-sink dynamics explain the distribution and persistence of an invasive population of common carp across a model Midwestern watershed
- A decade of common carp research and management in Minnesota
- Low downstream dispersal of young-of-year common carp from marshes into lakes in the Upper Mississippi River region and its implications for integrated pest management strategies
- Common carp assessment in Six Mile Creek
- Elucidating the mechanism underlying the productivity-recruitment hypothesis in the invasive common carp
- Different migratory behaviors of invasive adult Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio) and native Northern Pike (Esox lucius) allow for selective blocking
- Effects of common carp (Cyprinus carpio) on sediment mixing and phosphorous availability in a shallow lake
- Theory and application of semiochemicals in invasive fish control
- Biological invasion by a benthivorous fish reduced the cover and species richness of aquatic plants in most lakes of a large North American ecoregion
- Field test of a bubble curtain deterrent system for common carp
- Modeling the potential for managing invasive common carp in temperate lakes by targeting their winter aggregations
- Effects of Temperature and Trophic State on Degradation of Environmental DNA in Lake Water
- Partial migration to seasonally-unstable habitat facilitates biological invasions in a predator-dominated system
- Across-ecoregion analysis suggests a hierarchy of ecological filters that regulate recruitment of a globally invasive fish
- The Relationship between the Distribution of Common Carp and Their Environmental DNA in a Small Lake
- Effects of common carp on phosphorus concentrations, water clarity, and vegetation density: a whole system experiment in a thermally stratified lake
Ongoing research
- Harnessing naturally occurring carp viruses for biocontrol
- Adapting stream barriers to remove carp during their seasonal migrations
- Introducing a synthetic barrier to reproduction that will lead to sterile offspring
- Developing a species-specific toxin delivery system to control populations
- Testing the limits of biocontrol options to determine if they are feasible in hypereutrophic lakes
- Conducting virus discovery using Next Gen Sequencing and culturing potential pathogens for biocontrol
Current projects
Completed projects
- Six Mile Creek Carp Assessment (contract with Minnehaha Creek Watershed District)
- Determining the ability of two approaches to measure environmental DNA (eDNA) to reliably quantify the abundance of invasive common carp in Minnesota lakes
- Developing and implementing a sustainable program to control common carp (contract with Riley-Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District)
- Adult Common Carp Movement in Rice Creek Watershed (collaboration with Rice Creek Watershed District)
- Testing whether carp can be located using Judas fish: a new behavioral tool to locate aggregating invasive fish so they might be tracked and/or removed
Additional information from MAISRC
- Whooshh fish removal system up and running!
- SMART carp hold promise for biocontrol of common carp
- Video: Training common carp to aggregate so they can be removed
- Video: Common carp biocontrol
- Frequently asked questions about Koi Herpes Virus (KHV)
- Viruses! Silver bullet for common carp in Minnesota lakes?
- Public values of aquatic invasive species management
- New common carp management techniques: Selective toxins and Whooshh
- Engineering the carp genome: A new paradigm for the control of invasive species
- New research findings support use of biocontrol for common carp
- Researchers successfully install electric fish guidance system to remove carp during spawning migrations
- Six Mile Creek common carp assessment completed
- Selectively controlling carp using biotoxins
- New MAISRC research shows invasive common carp more damaging to biodiversity than human development
- New eDNA degradation results suggest high potential for false negative detections of Asian carp, other species
- Partial migration: new findings suggest management opportunities for common carp
- MAISRC researcher leads a collaborative team to explain the enigma of common carp invasions
- Completing population estimates to manage carp
- Success! Common carp under control in Riley Chain of Lakes
- Advancing AIS detection technologies
Related news stories
- This sucks: U of M researchers hope to turn the ‘salmon cannon’ into a carp vacuum
- Minnesota researchers hope to use fish virus against carp
- Crews removing thousands of invasive carp from Lake Minnetonka headwaters
- 2,000 pounds of invasive carp removed as part of 10-year plan for Lake Minnetonka headwaters
- Thousands of invasive carp to be removed from Lake Minnetonka headwaters
- Invasive carp removal process begins
- U researchers look to harness fish virus in fight against invasive carp
- Project aims to control invasive carp west of Lake Minnetonka
- Minnehaha Creek Watershed District receives funds to restore headwaters habitat
- Researchers Could Find Way to Use Carp-Killing Virus
- U of M to study virus as potential carp control
- Battle against aquatic invasive species on Lake Minnetonka continues
- Startup takes aim at invasive carp threat in Minnesota lakes
- Scientists trying to make common carp a lot less so
- Researchers working to combat common carp in Minnesota
- Study shows how common carp became invasive
- Controlling the common carp
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