Champions of the Earth Proposal Arkira, Fern, Pobai, Guilhe 11B

Dear the UN’s Champions of the Earth organization,

We are writing to you as a proposal for the monetary award of $40,000 to

support a conservation project which will take place in the upstream of the
Mississippi River.

Ever since the Asian carp (a type of fish), was introduced to the United States in
the 1970s, it has progressed into the dominant species of the main rivers and
streams. The aim of the project is to reduce and prevent close by areas from
being overpopulated by the Asian carp. Originally from Asia, the species was
expected to serve as a solution towards removing algae from ponds. As a result
of the Great Flood in 1993, ponds had overflowed displacing the fish species in
the area. Since then, Asian carp has been found to be a great threat to the
native species, having no natural predators therefore crowding out the fish with
the same diet. A solution for the issue could be the introduction of non-physical
behavioural separation barriers.

The BAFF barrier would be a useful and effective solution as installation would
help maintain a balanced ecosystem within the area. The existence of carp
species has affected the biodiversity of native species such as the two types of
fishes Bighead Buffalo and Gizzard Shad. For example, in years 2000 the
percentage of the occurrence of the silver carp was at 7%, however in years
2009, its percentage increased becoming a 31%. This means that there had
been an increase in the occurrence of the species by 24% throughout the 9 year
gap. It is observable that this occurrence has an impact on the native species.
For example, the percentage of occurrence of the Bighead Buffalo decreased by
5% through the years 2000-2009. We can conclude from data obtained that
there is a need for the solution to be installed in order to prevent the native
species’ numbers from dropping even further.

Since Asian Carp have been located along the La Grange Pool, Illinois River,
which connects major water bodies Mississippi River to Lake Michigan, the BAFF
Barrier will be installed along the perimeters of the La Grange Pool, a region in
the Illinois River to prevent carps from overpopulating upstream to Lake
Michigan and the Mississippi River. Doing so will prevent the carps from
establishing a self sustaining population in further areas in Lake Michigan and
the Mississippi River.

The proposed solution is the non-physical behavioural separation barriers or the

Acoustic/Bubble (BAFF) Barrier Acoustic Fish Fence which is equipped with a
combination of bubbles, sounds, and high intensity lights which are repellent to
carps with narrow-beam lights fitted at the base. Therefore, water appears to be
more transparent in the bubble sheet, allowing light to reach surface even in
turbid water (which covers some parts of the river). The lighting forms a
continuous line along the barrier, preventing carps from crossing the designated
barrier and overpopulating.
Champions of the Earth Proposal Arkira, Fern, Pobai, Guilhe 11B

Because Asian carp are extremely sensitive to sound, an effective solution would
be to implant the sound system becoming a ‘wall of sound’ into the
surroundings. The setup will act as a guidance barrier, directing the species
towards a specific direction. The money if rewarded will be used in a purpose of
funding the project through the necessary research, such as processes of
identifying fish migrating areas. Because animal behaviour is as a response to
surroundings due to the occurrences within the environment, advanced research
is required in order to develop the right frequency ensuring that only the
invasive species are to react to the sound enabling a selective passage
separating the invasive species from the natives. The initial development cost of
this BAFF project is totalled at $55 000.
The aim of BAFF barriers or non physical barriers is to restrict and divert
movement and isolate the Asian carp species, preventing escape to larger areas
of Lake Michigan and Mississippi. Therefore, it does not affect navigation of the
river and has minimal effect on natural river flow. In the present, the system is
97% effective as research shows that fish do not develop habituation to the
barrier, thus making it effective for long term use to isolate the fishes in this
specific area.

However with high frequency sound waves, the barrier is not only effective to the
invasive species but also to other species as well could result in native species
such as gizzard shad and bigmouth buffalo not being able to expand their
population elsewhere in the river. Therefore, extensive research and advanced
technology is required to bring improvement upon the system. This would
provide job opportunities during the development and monitoring, as well as help
solve the problem by restricting only the invasive carp species in the La Grange
area. Restricting the population growth of carps would benefit commercial fishing
industries, since the carps will not hinder the growth of native fishes which are
the common commercial fishes for human consumption. Fishing industries would
have an increased profit in their business. However, this improvement would
increase the expenses.

Overall, the goal is to minimize the area of the river (La Grange Pool) by using
BAFF, and at the same time, reduce the capacity of invasive species of La
Grange Pool by the long term. Although BAFF has minimal effect in short terms
as the system does not eliminate and reduce the actual population of invasive
species but by restricting movement of the population it could help reduce its
numbers in the long term since the carps could compete within its own species
for food source.

The outcome of installing BAFF barrier is that theoretically, and hopefully, there
are less numbers of Asian Carps within the La Grange Pool and beyond, in Illinois
River, allowing there to be more growth of other species in the area and
Champions of the Earth Proposal Arkira, Fern, Pobai, Guilhe 11B

environment, thereby, improving the ecological manner of the situation. This

also prevents the invasive species from overpopulating upstream into further
areas of Mississippi River.

To allow us to monitor the success of the barrier, we will be tracking the

movement of fish in the area. This will be done through capturing fish from the
Asian carp species as well as the Bighead Buffalos and other species which have
been affected by the issue, tagging them, and releasing them back into the
same area with the barriers installed and ready to operate.

With this technology of being able to monitor individuals from each species, we
can observe if the Asian Carps have indeed been directed to the set location and
whether the barrier system has control over the movement of other fish species.
Also, valuable data can be obtained on whether the system is effective or not in
terms of operating as a selective passage.

Although we understand that there are other projects also aiming for the
monetary fund, we feel that in some ways, our project deserves the award fund
to put the system into place. BAFF will prove to be a sustainable solution
directing and controlling the invasive species under an area in order for the
species to become competition against each other and decrease its own
population. The system seems to be a crucial solution in order for the native
species of fish in the Mississippi to remain before getting wiped out entirely as a
result of the overpopulation of invasive species.

We thank you for considering the proposals we make above and we look forward
to your reply.

Respectfully yours,

Arkira, Fern, Pobai, Guilhe 11B

Appendix

Table 1: Data Obtained – Frequency of Occurrence of Species in the La

Grange Pool

Year Frequency of Occurrence (%)

Bigmouth Silver Carp Gizzard Chad

Buffalo

1993 9 0 37

1994 17 0 52

1995 19 0 58

1996 18 0 52

1997 19 0 56

1998 14 0 59
Champions of the Earth Proposal Arkira, Fern, Pobai, Guilhe 11B

1999 19 0 58

2000 19 7 58

2001 22 7 55

2002 17 7 57

2003 16 15 53

2004 17 21 56

2005 15 25 55

2006 15 25 61

2007 14 29 57

2008 14 38 45

2009 14 31 31

2010 8 26 44

Graph 1 – Frequency of Occurrence of Bigmouth Buffalo in the La

Grange Pool

Graph 2 – Frequency of Occurrence of Silver Carp in the La Grange Pool

Champions of the Earth Proposal Arkira, Fern, Pobai, Guilhe 11B

Graph 3 – Frequency of Occurrence of Gizzard Chad in the La Grange

Pool