Illinois department of natural resources has been partnering with US fish and wildlife through the US environmental protection agencies great lakes restoration initiative to prevent invasive carps…

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) was awarded a $9,054,943 Project Grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (CFDA 15.662) on February 1, 2025. This grant will support IDNR's partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to prevent invasive carp from reaching and establishing populations in the Great Lakes. Key activities include:

• Implementing a multi-pronged approach of early detection, monitoring, and control of invasive carp in the Illinois Waterway, including intensive monitoring, stock assessment using hydroacoustics, and assessments of invasive carp reproduction and ecosystem response.
• Evaluating a mobile fish transfer system to attract and selectively remove invasive carp while allowing passage of native fish species.
• Monitoring for invasive black carp and determining their abundance in the lower Illinois River.

The University of Illinois, Eastern Illinois University, and Southern Illinois University are serving as sub-grantees to support various research and monitoring efforts under this grant.

Illinois department of natural resources has been partnering with US fish and wildlife through the US environmental protection agencies great lakes restoration initiative to prevent invasive carps from reaching and establishing populations in the great lakes. Through these efforts and to date there have been no invasive carp documented from lake michigan. As our partnerships through the invasive carp action plan suggest, idnr has agreed to fulfill the following items as noted in the 2024 invasive carp action plan and will plan on entering a cooperative agreement with USFWS to perform the following services and contracts (objectives) with approach, results, and benefits expected within each objective according to the proposed included timeline. Illinois develops with its partners a monitoring and response workgroup and annual monitoring and response plan to coordinate efforts to facilitate the objectives listed in the proposal.