18 / OutdoorIllinois June 2008 Now? ENEMIES OF THE STATE: Where Are They Story By Mark Steingraeber Photos courtesy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. I t was Tuesday morning, June 12, 2007. Another day of sweltering heat and humidity blanketed the Land of Lincoln. Dave Wedan, a native of Wisconsin’s cool north woods, braced himself as he entered the summertime steam bath of suburban Chicago for the twelfth con- secutive year…a tough assignment for any northerner. Businesses there were operating on heightened security since the 9/11 terror- ist attacks. Wedan drove past the Stat- eville Correctional Center, on his way to meet an old acquaintance at a boat land- ing in Joliet. Following instructions, they were to patrol throughout the day along a sun-scorched route that over the years had become all too familiar, shadowing the Des Plaines River from the downtown waterfront to the Brandon Road Lock and Dam. Tomorrow would bring more of the same dull routine. Meanwhile, other colleagues quickly made their way through a mosquito-infest- ed forest near Lemont, until the nearby staccato-like cadence of semi-automatic weapons fire froze them in their tracks. Dozens of other members of this modern- day posse, a well-organized team of field experts assembled by the federal govern- ment, were likewise scattered about in remote sites as far downstate as Havana. Many wore bright orange vests for greater safety. Traveling from distant points throughout the Midwest, these profession- als assembled into 14 small groups. Each was gathering at the same site where they had met in past years, ready to resume their state-sanctioned, week-long surveil- lance operation to pinpoint the where- abouts of several previously reported piscine “Enemies of the State.” Does this sound like the first chapter of pulp fiction novel to read at the beach this summer, or perhaps the setting for a blockbuster gangster movie? No. These passages of non-fiction describe some of the annual circumstances experienced by participants in the Goby Roundup/ This month, teams take to the rivers for the annual surveillance for invasive fish. In 2002, the annual Goby Roundup was expanded to include the Carp Corral, which documents movement of invasive carps upstream toward Lake Michigan.
Transcript
18 / OutdoorIllinois June 2008
Now?
E N E M I E S O F T H E S T A T E :
Where Are They
Story By Mark SteingraeberPhotos courtesy U.S. Fish andWildlife Service.
It was Tuesday morning,June 12, 2007. Another dayof sweltering heat andhumidity blanketed theLand of Lincoln. Dave
Wedan, a native of Wisconsin’s coolnorth woods, braced himself as heentered the summertime steam bath ofsuburban Chicago for the twelfth con-secutive year…a tough assignment forany northerner.
Businesses there were operating onheightened security since the 9/11 terror-ist attacks. Wedan drove past the Stat-eville Correctional Center, on his way tomeet an old acquaintance at a boat land-ing in Joliet. Following instructions, theywere to patrol throughout the day along asun-scorched route that over the yearshad become all too familiar, shadowingthe Des Plaines River from the downtownwaterfront to the Brandon Road Lock andDam. Tomorrow would bring more of thesame dull routine.
Meanwhile, other colleagues quicklymade their way through a mosquito-infest-ed forest near Lemont, until the nearbystaccato-like cadence of semi-automaticweapons fire froze them in their tracks.Dozens of other members of this modern-day posse, a well-organized team of fieldexperts assembled by the federal govern-ment, were likewise scattered about inremote sites as far downstate as Havana.
Many wore bright orange vests for greatersafety. Traveling from distant pointsthroughout the Midwest, these profession-als assembled into 14 small groups. Eachwas gathering at the same site where theyhad met in past years, ready to resumetheir state-sanctioned, week-long surveil-lance operation to pinpoint the where-abouts of several previously reportedpiscine “Enemies of the State.”
Does this sound like the first chapterof pulp fiction novel to read at the beachthis summer, or perhaps the setting for ablockbuster gangster movie? No. Thesepassages of non-fiction describe some ofthe annual circumstances experiencedby participants in the Goby Roundup/
This month, teamstake to the riversfor the annualsurveillance forinvasive fish.
In 2002, the annual Goby Roundup was
expanded to include the Carp Corral, which
documents movement of invasive carps
upstream toward Lake Michigan.
Carp Corral, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice sponsored surveillance program todetect the presence of several non-nativefish in the Illinois waterway system.
Since 1996, the program has docu-mented the annual movement of invasiveround goby downstream from LakeMichigan toward the Mississippi Rivervia the interconnected Cal Sag Channel,Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and DesPlaines and Illinois rivers. In 2002, theprogram’s purpose was expanded to alsoevaluate the annual movement of inva-sive bighead carp and silver carp (Asiancarps) upstream in the Illinois Rivertoward Lake Michigan.
With the cooperation of staff from ahost of federal and state agencies, acade-mia, non-government organizations, pri-vate businesses and volunteers, this part-nership effort annually identifies theapparent distribution and relative abun-dance of these unwanted aquatic pests inIllinois. Years of experience havedemonstrated that the most efficient gearto detect round goby are baited minnowtraps. Traps usually are set by crews inthe cryptic, shallow-water habitats thatthis species seems to prefer. Becauseone or more traps are typically set aboutevery mile along a survey route, a routethat can exceed 150 river miles, thelogistics of preparing for this recurringsurveillance operation present manychallenges. Meanwhile, crews out todetect Asian carps use completely differ-ent types of gear (e.g., trammel nets,electro fishing). Successfully coordinat-ing and safely completing this wide-rang-ing surveillance mission, year after year,
is no small feat and requires great atten-tion to detail by all participants.
These and other recent fish surveyshave traced the apparent annual move-ment of round goby from Blue Island(1996) to as far downstream as Peoria(2004), a distance of more than 160 rivermiles and halfway downstate to the Missis-sippi River. Round goby were known tohave already passed an electrical fish barri-er, located in the CSSC near Romeoville,before it began operating in 2002. There-fore, the continued downstream spread ofround goby was not unexpected.
Despite increased amounts of surveil-lance effort in the Illinois River, no addi-tional round goby have been capturedbeyond Peoria since 2004. In 2007 how-ever, round goby were detected movingupstream into Jackson Creek. This high-quality prairie stream flows into the DesPlaines River and has been metaphorical-ly described as “the single yellow rose
among a desolate demise of concrete”that was formerly the U.S. Army’s JolietTraining Area. Unfortunately, the aggres-sive behavior of the round goby is likelyto displace members of the diversenative fish community (46 speciesincluding several darters) that has longthrived there amidst an urban landscape.
Both bighead and silver carp were cap-tured in the Dresden Island Pool of theDes Plaines River during 2007, at siteslocated farther upstream than ever before.Because locks and dams have failed to pre-vent upstream movements by Asian carps,the only available means of preventingthem from reaching Lake Michiganappears to be the deteriorating underwa-ter electrical barrier, now located only 15miles away. Fortunately, the U.S. Congresshas appropriated funds for the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers to construct a new andimproved electrical barrier there thatcould begin operating before year’s end.
In the mean time, Illinois residentsare asked to remain ever vigilant and areencouraged to report any suspiciouslooking “piscine characters” (i.e., fish) tolocal authorities so that they will contin-ue to know the current whereabouts ofthese and other lurking aquatic “Enemiesof the State.”
Mark Steingraeber is a fishery biologistwith the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Serviceoffice in Onalaska, Wisconsin.
