Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit, Southern Applachian Mountains CESU

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The USGS is offering a funding opportunity to a CESU partner for research in Bighead Carp inner ear hair cell death in response to sound. Currently, prevention of the movement of bighead (Hypothalmichthys molitrix) and silver carp (H. nobilis) from the Mississippi watershed into the Great Lakes rests on electric barriers located in the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). Additional barriers and/or supplements to the electric barrier would enhance this barrier and limit successful passage through the CAWS to the Great Lakes through redundancy and â¿¿safety netsâ¿¿. Multiple approaches are being tested, but all come with some side effects. The use of a selective underwater sound deterrent system seems to be one of the most cost-effective and low-maintenance strategies that has been tested. However, there is still much to be learned about the effects of sound on bighead and silver carp.

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