Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




WATER WORLD
Underwater CO2 shows potential as barrier to Asian carp
by Staff Writers
Urbana IL (SPX) Feb 01, 2013


Although Asian carp are known to jump when water is agitated, Suski said the fish did not jump to escape the carbon dioxide. Credit: Kevin Irons, Illinois DNR.

As the Asian carp population grows and the threat of the invasive species entering Lake Michigan through one of the Chicago canals is monitored, a University of Illinois researcher believes using two barrier methods is better than one.

Cory Suski experimented with adding carbon dioxide (CO2) into the water as a supplemental tool to work in tandem with the electric fence, which has been used to divert the carp from entering the canal, with the goal of providing a second line of defense.

Suski found that carbon dioxide is quick and effective in repelling fish from an area.

"In one experiment using tanks, we could actually chase the fish with the gas," Suski said. "Once carbon dioxide reached a threshold, fish would 'choose' to leave the area of the tank that had CO2. The fish initially showed signs of being irritated or agitated after exposure, and eventually they lost equilibrium. If fish cannot leave or are slow to leave the carbon dioxide accumulates to a point where it will act like an anesthetic gas used for patients who are undergoing surgery."

Suski knew that CO2 had already been proven to be effective at fish hatcheries. The CO2 was used to move fish from one area to another, making it easier to harvest them. He wanted to see if the technique could be applied to the Chicago River canals and at other vulnerable entry points into the Great Lakes.

In addition to studies quantifying behavior and stress physiology in response to CO2, Suski used a laboratory tank called a shuttle box that contains two chambers and a connecting canal. The level of carbon dioxide can be controlled on either side of the box. Tests were performed on bighead carp and silver carp as well as bluegill and largemouth bass so the effects on native species of fish could be confirmed. CO2 had the same effect on all four species.

"What we learned is that CO2 does not appear to be species specific," Suski said. "This is good because there are other species besides Asian carp that we don't want swimming back and forth between the river and the Great Lakes. The electric fence is also a non-species-specific barrier, and all non-physical barriers have weaknesses. The CO2 barrier isn't intended to replace the electric fence. It's another tool, a redundant barrier that further increases the likelihood of stopping fish from getting through," he said.

Because carp are known to jump, Suski was prepared for the possibility that the carp would try to jump out of the shuttle box to escape the carbon dioxide. "We covered the tanks to keep them contained, but they didn't jump," he said.

Suski also conducted an experiment on a larger scale in a small, outdoor pond about 40 feet by 30 feet but without fish. "We wanted to see how easy it would be to put CO2 into a lot of water," Suski said. "As it turned out, it's shockingly easy. We did it with a hose and a gas source and just bubbled it in."

Suski said the next step will be to test it in the field on a larger scale, determining the costs and the effect it may have on non-target species and on the environment. The elevated CO2 makes the water slightly more acidic so Suski wants to learn how the higher acidity affects fish, the water, and other organisms.

"What we're working on right now is seeing how effective CO2 is on small fish," Suski said. "In theory, CO2 could eliminate all fish from an area, regardless of their size, whereas we know that for small fish, 1 to 3 inches, the electrical barrier becomes less effective. If smaller fish don't like the CO2 and choose to swim away, that's a potential shortcoming of the electrical barrier that CO2 can address."

According to Suski, Asian carp grow rapidly and totally disrupt the food chain. All fish depend upon zooplankton (small animals) and phytoplankton (small plants) when they are very small. "Asian carp eat these items that the other fish and other aquatic organisms depend upon, thus pulling the rug out from the bottom of the food chain," Suski said.

Suski said Asian carp are already in the Mississippi River all the way up to Minnesota as well as in South Dakota.

"Once they get into the Great Lakes, there is concern that they could do well there and further spread to other canals throughout eastern North America," Suski said.

Responses of native and invasive fishes to carbon dioxide: Potential for a non-physical barrier to fish dispersal was published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. The research was funded by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

.


Related Links
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences
Water News - Science, Technology and Politics






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WATER WORLD
Warmer Earth will have less rain, not more: study
Paris (AFP) Jan 30, 2013
Climate scientists said Wednesday they found evidence to back predictions for a future with lower average rainfall, even though Earth's past warming episodes had led to more precipitation, not less. Writing in the journal Nature, researchers said they had found proof that global warming caused by Man's greenhouse-gas emissions has a different effect on rainfall than warming caused by increas ... read more


WATER WORLD
US, Europe team up for moon fly-by

Russia to Launch Lunar Mission in 2015

US, Europe team up for moon fly-by

Mission would drag asteroid to the moon

WATER WORLD
AAS Division For Planetary Sciences Issues Statement On Mars 2020 Program

Curiosity Maneuver Prepares for Drilling

Ridges on Mars suggest ancient flowing water

Changes on Mars Caused by Seasonal Thawing of CO2

WATER WORLD
Sierra Nevada Corporation and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company Partner On Dream Chaser Programs

NASA Launches Next-Gen Communications Satellite

NASA Takes Strides Forward to Launch Americans from U.S. Soil

Iran Takes First Step to Send Man to Space

WATER WORLD
Reshuffle for Tiangong

China to launch 20 spacecrafts in 2013

Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

WATER WORLD
NASA to Send Inflatable Pod to International Space Station

ISS to get inflatable module

ESA workhorse to power NASA's Orion spacecraft

Competition Hopes To Fine Tune ISS Solar Array Shadowing

WATER WORLD
Site of space rocket launch to become home of S. Korea's space program

Payload preps continue for first Ariane 5 flights of 2013

NASA Wallops Rocket Mission January 29 Prepping for Future Projects

Russia's Troubled Rocket Cleared for Launch

WATER WORLD
TW Hydrae: There's more to astronomers' favorite planetary nursery than previously thought

The Origin And Maintenance Of A Retrograde Exoplanet

New Evidence Indicates Auroras Occur Outside Our Solar System

Glitch has space telescope shut down

WATER WORLD
NTU research embraces laser and sparks cool affair

Bioinspired fibers change color when stretched

Stanford Researchers Break Million-core Supercomputer Barrier

Scientists trick iron-eating bacteria into breathing electrons instead




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement