Milestones in the History of Invasive Carp Management

In 2007, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led a multi-agency effort to develop the Management and Control Plan for Bighead, Black, Grass, and Silver Carps in the United States. This was the first time partners came together to formalize a broad, coordinated effort to manage invasive carp. The national plan provided overarching guidance for partnerships that were formed later—such as the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee—that focus on management in specific geographic areas.

Management and Control Plan for Bighead, Black, Grass, and Silver Carps in the United States

In 2009, a detection of invasive carp environmental DNA and subsequently a live bighead carp in the Chicago Area Waterway System—the area connecting the Illinois River to Lake Michigan—prompted the formation of a multi-agency rapid response workgroup to safeguard the Great Lakes from the spread of invasive carp.

In 2010, the workgroup was formalized and later became known as the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee. Members include 26 state, provincial, federal, tribal and municipal agencies and bi-national commissions. The 2007 national plan helped guide the budding partnership, which now develops its own annual action plan outlining management projects.

Also in 2010, the U.S. Congress passed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative targeting the most significant threats to the health of the Great Lakes and accelerating environmental protection and restoration. This regional investment—consistently funded over the last 15 years—is provided through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to enhance natural resource agency funding and make more progress possible. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative supports the highest priority environmental efforts, including invasive carp work for Great Lakes protection.

In 2014, the U.S. Congress charged the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with leading multi-agency efforts related to invasive carp in the Ohio River and Upper Mississippi River sub-basins of the Mississippi River basin and provided funding for this work. Then in 2020, the U.S. Congress greatly expanded the scope of these efforts to include four more Mississippi River sub-basins and increased the agency’s funding to support all invasive carp management, including efforts to protect the Great Lakes basin. The majority of these funds are distributed to states and other natural resource management agencies for priority projects, giving another boost to our broader coordinated efforts to manage invasive carp.

Also in 2014, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study, presenting a range of options to prevent invasive species movement along aquatic pathways between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins. The study includes a focus on the Chicago Area Waterway System, the only continuous connection between the two basins, and other intermittent connections along the 1,500-mile-long divide. Since that time, barriers have been constructed at two of three high-risk intermittent pathway areas identified in the study and construction began on the third in 2024.

The construction phase began on a state-of-the-art, multi-layered deterrent project at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Illinois River near Joliet, about 40 miles from Lake Michigan. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the States of Illinois and Michigan are leading the development of the Brandon Road Interbasin Project. By integrating different deterrent technologies, it is designed to create a more robust line of defense against the upstream movement of invasive species toward the Great Lakes. A number of the Invasive Carp Regional Coordinating Committee members’ technology research projects over the years helped inform its design.