Catch Rates and Cost Effectiveness of Entrapment Gears for Asian Carp: A Comparison of Pound Nets, Hoop Nets, and Fyke Nets in Backwater Lakes of the Illinois River

Abstract

We compared three entrapment gears to determine which method was the most effective for capturing invasive Bighead Carp Hypophthalmichthys nobilis and Silver Carp H. molitrix in terms of numbers of fish captured and labor invested. Gears were deployed concurrently in two backwater lakes of the Illinois River during the summers of 2012–2014. Overall, the nightly catch rates of all fishes, Bighead Carp, and Silver Carp were one to three orders of magnitude greater in pound nets than in either fyke nets or hoop nets. Pound nets collected larger Bighead Carp than hoop nets and fyke nets. Hoop nets were ineffective at catching Asian carp in backwater lakes. Estimation of the effort required to deploy, maintain, and remove each gear type indicated that pound nets were the most cost-effective gear due to their high catch rates of Asian carp relative to the labor hours invested to collect the catch. Pound nets appear to be an effective means of removing Asian carp in backwater lake habitats of the Illinois River.

Received April 20, 2015; accepted September 3, 2015

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was supported by the Great Lakes Research Initiative, with funding administered through the IDNR (CAFWS-93). We thank K. Irons, M. O'Hara, D. Wyffels, J. Mick, and V. Santucci of the IDNR for their assistance in coordinating this project. In addition, we thank L. Chadderton, M. McClelland, J. Dettmers, D. Chapman, S. Finney, and J. Gross for initial discussions on the use of pound nets. Todd Stuth and crews of Hickey Brothers Research made the pound nets and provided initial training of personnel. We are grateful to Joshua Tompkins and the numerous individuals who provided field assistance to make this project possible, including the graduate students and staff of the Kaskaskia and Sam Parr Biological Stations, Illinois Natural History Survey, and the University of Illinois.