Contract commercial fishing will be deployed primarily in the Starved Rock and Marseilles pools to suppress adult populations of invasive carp present in these pools which are above the reproductive front and present an opportunity to reduce the risk of upstream expansion. Reducing numbers of adult fish in this area where small fish have only rarely been found suppresses propagule pressure towards upstream migration, reducing the risk of invasive carp nearing the electric dispersal barrier. Approximately twenty-four weeks of contracted removal in these pools is scheduled annually resulting in roughly 1 million pounds of invasive carp removed per year. Contract commercial fishing begins in the spring following ice-out and continues to mid-summer, when temperatures become too warm to harvest fish effectively. Effort resumes in September until freeze up. Agency staff develop a harvest schedule in the spring of each year. Agency biologists direct contract commercial fishing effort to maximize removal in the target reaches. Fish removed provide the opportunity to collect valuable biological information on fish condition, age, and demographics. Fishing locations will vary depending on the priorities and objectives of the program with some sampling occurring above the electrical dispersal barrier in Romeoville.
