Another species of Asian carp could become threat to Pennsylvania's waterways

While Pennsylvania holds off a threat from two species of Asian carp — invasives known to devour habitat and knock out native fish — another species of Asian carp is headed our way.

For years, environmental agencies have been fighting the scourge of Asian carp, a monster of a fish that can weight up to 40 pounds and jump 3 feet out of the water en masse when a passing motor boat stirs them up.

But a more recently introduced species is making waves: The black carp, from eastern Asia, accidentally was released into the Mississippi and Osage rivers in the 1990s from agricultural ponds where they were introduced to control snails and parasites, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

"We are concerned about the black carp moving up the Ohio River and moving to waters with native mussel population, which are already stressed in the Ohio River tributaries," said Charlie Wooley, Midwest deputy regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wooley has been watching the black carp steadily move through the Mississippi River and its tributaries for the last couple of years.

"What we are seeing are disturbing signs of increased expansion into the Ohio River," he said.

While state scientists are happy that the other invasive carp in the Ohio River still have not spilled into the state, they are keeping an eye on the black carp's progress.

"We have definite concerns about the black carp; however they are beyond where we need to get too concerned yet," said longtime researcher Rick Lorson, fisheries manager at the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission office in Somerset.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been awarding grants to Pennsylvania annually to pay for monitoring Asian carp in local waters. Currently, the Fish and Boat Commission has a $25,000 grant from Fish and Wildlife, according to Lorson.

Additionally, the state commission soon will hire a seasonal biologist to work on assembling data from the Ohio River as part of monitoring for Asian carp, he added.

Fighting with carp

On its Asian carp scorecard, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the agency is at a draw in Illinois, one of the main battlegrounds, according to Wooley.

"We've neutralized upstream movement and we are reducing numbers through contract fisherman, and that is good," he said.

But the emergence of another species of Asian carp poses yet another threat.

On Nov. 29, the Critical Species Investigations branch of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources captured the first documented black carp in Lake Barkley.

Fish and Wildlife Resources staff there was working with a commercial fisherman targeting silver carp in Lake Barkley with gill nets when they captured the black carp.

Another front is the Great Lakes.

Scientists warn that bighead and silver carp, both imported from Asia decades ago, could out-compete native species for food if they become established in the Great Lakes, where commercial and sport fishing are worth billions of dollars annually.

An Asian silver carp recently evaded an electrical barrier to reach a Chicago waterway only about 9 miles from Lake Michigan

The location is 34 miles closer to Lake Michigan than silver carp previously were known to have reached, Wooley said.

Environmental groups and officials in some of the region's states, including Michigan, have called for separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds by installing dams or other physical barriers in the Chicago waterways.

Officials and industry leaders in Illinois and Indiana oppose that, saying it would disrupt freight shipping on the busy waterway.

As that drama plays out, Pennsylvania will benefit from the research and measures to keep the fish at bay.

"There's a lot of research taking place reducing the carp's abundance and getting them out of the Great Lakes," Lorson noted.

"I feel confident we will be able to reduce the impact if they get here in Pennsylvania," he said.

No movement upstream in last two years

The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission has been monitoring for the fish and hasn't found additional movement upriver, according to Lorson.

Here in Pennsylvania, the good news is the two species of Asian carp have not moved into the state.

But if they do and take hold, Lorson estimates that the carp could reduce local fish populations by 30 percent to 50 percent.

Currently, the bighead and silver carp populations are approaching the state border on the Ohio River. The fishommission has gotten hits for the carp's DNA from the Montgomery pool of the Ohio River, 5 miles down river from Beaver, which could be from the actual fish or its DNA transported by birds eating the carp elsewhere or another means.

"They are not advancing over the last five years into Pennsylvania so we haven't had any heightened concerns," Lorson said.

However, there really isn't a geographic barrier to prevent the fish from moving through the Ohio River into Pennsylvania.

But if the populations grow and enter Pennsylvania waters, Lorson said the state will benefit from remedies working in other states.

Professional fisherman have thinned out populations. More recently, the use of hydro acoustics have been effective in finding schools of the carp, identifying them by sound.

Mary Ann Thomas is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4691, mthomas@tribweb.com or via Twitter @MaThomas_Trib. The Associated Press contributed.