June 24, 2002

Rare blue catfish caught in Minnesota

A new record for one that doesn’t exist

   Minnesota has a new record fish, a blue catfish, so uncommon in Minnesota that an official state record does not even exist, was caught on May 22 in the Minnesota River below the Lac qui Parle dam. Steve Ness of Browerville lugged the 52.8 lb giant out of the river at about 5 AM, using 20 lb test line and chicken liver for bait.

    The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wis., lists the all-tackle record for blue catfish at 111 pounds for a fish caught in Alabama. The record for a blue catfish caught on 20-pound test line is a 97-pound fish caught in Georgia.

   According to Huon Newburg, MN DNR regional fisheries supervisor at New Ulm, blue catfish are common in large river systems such as the Mississippi, Missouri and Ohio. “Blue catfish in the Minnesota River are rare. In fact, this is the first confirmed catch of a blue catfish in the Minnesota River for many, many years, at least that I am aware of,” Newburg said.

   Closely resembling the channel catfish, blue cats often

grow to large size, with 50-pounders common. Blue cats

more than 100 pounds have been caught in Texas. It has been reported that fish exceeding 350 pounds were caught in the Mississippi River during the late 1800s. To the untrained eye, the blue cat is distinguishable from other catfish primarily by its long, flat anal fin. Biologists typically inspect the internal swim bladder of a blue cat to distinguish it from channel catfish. A blue cat has a swim bladder that is pinched in the middle, while those of the channel cat are singular.

   About 6,000 blue catfish fingerlings were stocked into Lake St. Croix in the St. Croix River in the early 1970s, so it is possible some could have migrated into the Minnesota River. “However,” Newburg noted, “in order to get from St. Croix Lake to Lac qui Parle, this fish would have had to get past two dams at Granite Falls. The best explanation is that it might have done that during extensive flooding when water skirted around these dams.”

   However the blue catfish made its way to Lac qui Parle, it will soon also make its way into Minnesota’s state fish record book – and onto a wall at the home of Steve Ness, who intends to have the big cat mounted.

Invasive Species Barrier energized!!

Chicago area ANS Electronic barrier operational       by Phil Moy, Ph.D., Wis. Sea Grant

   The electric barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was energized April 9th, almost six years after first authorized by the National Invasive Species Act (NISA 1996). The electric barrier is intended to deter up and down stream passage of invasive fishes in the canal connecting the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. Nearly 30agencies and the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council were involved in discussion of the barrier, its site selection, design and construction.

   Built in 1910, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship (San-Ship) Canal provides an open gateway for the spread of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) through the Midwest.  Replacing the small, Illinois-Michigan Canal, the much larger and deeper San-Ship Canal allows gravity flow of water from Lake Michigan to the Des Plaines River.

To prevent the spread of ANS, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District was authorized through NISA to evaluate methods for creating an ANS dispersal barrier in the Canal. The advisory panel, assembled by the Chicago District to assist with project development, identified obstacles, constraints and potential barrier options. Through a series of meetings, panel members identified and ranked over a dozen barrier strategies. It was decided that an electric barrier would have the greatest chance for success in terms of technical feasibility, commercial availability, permit attainability in addition to posing the least level of safety concerns.

   Given that the underlying objective of the dispersal barrier project is to prevent both up and down stream spread of ANS, it was deemed necessary that the barrier not stun the fish. A graded, micro-pulsed DC electric field forms a barrier for many fish species. Fish approaching the barrier sense the field before becoming stunned, stimulating them to turn back.  Lab and field tests found

that gobies tend to dart once they sense the electric field, not necessarily away from the stronger shock. Once in the stronger part of the field, the gobies become stunned and can be pushed by water flow downstream past the barrier. The solution recommended to address this scenario was a suction trough on the bottom of the canal to catch stunned gobies.

   The advisory panel originally envisioned two barrier arrays separated by a several hundred yards to create a redundant system. Recommended features included railroad rails for electrodes, a back-up generator in case of power loss, and egress ladders to provide an exit for anyone in the water. Estimated construction cost for a single barrier was $4-5 million. As with many projects, budget shortfalls necessitated a reduction in the project scope. To meet the $1.25 million budget, the electrodes were changed to steel cables, the back-up generator and the egress ladders were omitted and since round gobies were found past the barrier in 1999, the benthic suction trough also was eliminated. Annual operating cost for the barrier is expected to be about $200,000. Researchers from the Illinois Natural History Survey will monitor barrier performance, using fish tagged with transponders. Though the project, as constructed, falls short of the original vision, it still will provide a site to study the effects of an electric barrier on silver and bighead carp as well as other fish species.

   The electric barrier is a first innovative step in the development of a fully effective ANS barrier.  Long term, consistent funding is vital to project development and success. Additional components such as acoustic or visual barriers will complement the effectiveness of the electric array. Though hydrologic separation of drainage basins may be the surest way to fully prevent range expansion of ANS, the dispersal barrier project in the San-Ship Canal can serve as a model for application in other locations where ANS spread is a concern and canal closure is not an option. (See related article Chicago Waterway Barrier Dedication)

Chicago Waterway Barrier Dedication

Wi Sea Grant’s Moy to stay on as Committee Chair

   The Chicago Electronic Waterway barrier was officially dedicated on April 18, 2002 after going into full time operation the week earlier on April 9^th.  But it’s not without its controversy of delays costs, and construction shortcuts.

   Some of the players involved in the construction of the project were present at the ceremony  including Dan Dietzler, president, Patrick Engineering, design engineer for the electronic barrier, Jeff Smith, VP, Smith-Root general contractors, and Dr. Rip Sparks and Dr. John Dettmer, science coordinators with the IL DNR Illinois Natural History Survey. Sparks and Dettmer are the lead scientists on the project and will be conducting the ongoing studies and research on the effectiveness of the electronic barrier and with related recommendations.

   This is one of 30 such barriers, but the largest of its kind in the nation.

   Sparks told the group the electronic device he was holding (see photo) will be placed in guinea pig fish which will be leading other fish to the barrier to test the barrier’s effectiveness.  Dr. Phil Moy, Wisconsin Sea Grant, was the chairman of the Chicago Waterway Barrier Ad Hoc Committee, and he and the committee were instrumental in bringing about the completion of this project.

   The life span of the barrier is initially 3 years, but will require upgrades on a second barrier – and lots of money.  The original lifespan was projected to last 50 years, but as the project was delayed the costs escalated and drastic cuts were implemented. The project cost $2.2 million and  was ultimately shortchanged on money, construction, material, design and life span.  Shortchanges included no secondary barrier, cables instead of railroad rails and no backup generator in case of a power failure.

   The project was completed on December 1, 2001 but didn’t come online until April 11, 2002, delayed as a result of  disagreements between the Corp of Engineers and the general contractor.

   In August 1999 round gobies were found in the system, but the IL DNR (Conlin & Manning) killed any state initiative for rapid response effort to treat area chemically.  Now four species of Asian Carp are poised to try to get past the barrier.  The big head, silver, grass and black carp have been found in the system.

   Black carp escaped from a Missouri aquaculture facility when area flooding occurred – have been found as far north in the Illinois River as Morris and are now poised to enter the Chicago canal system.

   To illustrate the magnitude of the problem if these new species of carp enter the system, a recent report from MICRA tells of a fish kill resulting in 97% of fish found to be Asian carp.

   “I’m really pleased with the cooperation and support of the panel members, Said Dr Moy.  “We’ve worked with the efforts of the Corps to bring this day to the success we see here.  However, our biggest problem is funding.  We need more money.  The project needs more money to keep the project going and to build the redundancy that we need to make this project a success.”

   Moy added “We’ll be lucky if we see three years (lifespan) under the current funding. We need to reach Congress, any lobbyists, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission,

MICRA (Mississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource

Association), we need to get lots of regional natural agencies involved who if they cannot get us funds directly have the leverage to get the funds through Congress, non-federal contributors.”

   When asked if he would stay on as chairman of the project , Moy responded “I’ll be pleased to continue in whatever capacity deemed necessary by the Committee for success.”

   Footnotes:  (See photo of barge) The barge towboat with its 12 barges was using the wall as part of its navigation functionality and it was within a foot of the wall; sometimes it would use the wall and bounce off of it to navigate up or down stream.  This was the reason why the electronic electrodes could not be placed on the sides of the wall, they had to be drilled inside the wall and come in under water on an angle. ˛

   Others present included Dave Ulrich, Region 3 EPA Deputy Director;  John Rogner, USFWS Chicago office; Dr. Phil Moy, WI Sea Grant; Col. Mark Roncoli, USACE Chicago District commander, Alan Braun, Canadian Consulate General Chicago office; Bob Schacht, Illinois EPA; Erwin Pohls, Metropolitan Sanitary District; and Dan Thomas, GLSFC.

Photos: courtesy Dan Thomas, GLSFC

Click on photo to enlarge