On:
In: AIS, Brandon Falish, Cadie Olson, Chris Litzau, Eat Wisconsin Fish, Green Bay, Lake Talks, Molly Bodde, public events, Titus Seilhimer

Topics include aquatic invasive species, eating local fish and Green Bay’s ecosystem

Wisconsin Sea Grant’s “Lake Talks” series of free, public events will return this fall—in cyberspace. Four virtual events in the series will take place on Thursdays at 7 p.m. between Sept. 10 and Nov. 12.

The series was launched earlier in 2020 with an in-person event in Green Bay in early March. However, remaining spring events were canceled due to public health concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Now, because of ongoing health concerns and university policy, the series will move to a virtual format this fall. Wisconsin Sea Grant is headquartered at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Lake Talks cover topics of special interest to residents in communities along or near the Lake Michigan shoreline—though anyone is welcome to attend.

Fall speakers and topics are:

Sept. 10: Molly Bodde of Kenosha, Wisconsin Sea Grant aquatic invasive species outreach specialist for southeast Wisconsin, will present “But It’s So Pretty: Combating Purple Loosestrife with Look-a-likes.”

Sept. 24: Chris Litzau of Racine, Great Lakes Community Conservation Corps director.

Oct. 22: University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduate students Cadie Olson and Brandon Falish will speak about “Green Bay: A Saga of Life, Destruction and Restoration.”

Nov. 12: Titus Seilheimer of Manitowoc, Wisconsin Sea Grant fisheries specialist, will offer “How to Eat Wisconsin Fish.” Seilheimer will talk about his favorite fish, the benefits of eating Wisconsin fish—both wild-caught and farmed—and how you can incorporate local fish into upcoming holiday celebrations.

Zoom will be used as the online event platform. Each event will last one hour and include time for Q&A after the presentation.

While web links and other technical details for the sessions are still being finalized, those interested can get more information when it is announced by following Wisconsin Sea Grant on social media (at the handle @UWiscSeaGrant on both Facebook and Twitter), or by going to the Wisconsin Sea Grant website at seagrant.wisc.edu (search for “Lake Talks”).

Questions about the series may be directed to Wisconsin Sea Grant science communicator Jennifer Smith at smith@aqua.wisc.edu.

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/wisconsin-sea-grant-to-host-virtual-lake-talks-this-fall/

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: AIS, aquatic invasive species, CD3, Molly Bodde, Tim Campbell

A research project recently completed by Wisconsin Sea Grant found that there was no statistical difference between an experienced watercraft inspector removing aquatic plants and small-bodied invertebrates from a watercraft using hand removal or using a CD3 waterless watercraft cleaning system. There was also no difference related to cleaning treatment duration. Study results are available in a recently finalized Wisconsin Sea Grant report authored by Tim Campbell, Molly Bodde and Titus Seilheimer.

A CD3 waterless watercraft cleaning system is used to clean a small boat during an experimental trial. (Photo: Molly Bodde)

Experimental trials consisted of a researcher placing a known amount of Eurasian watermilfoil or a mixture of spiny water fleas and wetland plant seeds on a watercraft. Then the inspector used each cleaning treatment for 90 or 180 seconds. The researcher then collected the removed specimens and recovered the remaining specimens to determine the percentage of specimens removed for each trial.

The same inspector completed every trial—a trained Wisconsin Clean Boats, Clean Waters inspector with two summers of inspection experience. The inspector did not have any previous experience with the CD3 cleaning system.

A key finding from the study was that a trained, experienced inspector can be very effective removing plants and small-bodied organisms from watercraft, with the inspector removing between 93 to 99 percent of aquatic plants and 80 to 92 percent of small-bodied invertebrates with the treatments, with no statistical difference between the methods.

Compared to a previous, similar study that also used a trained inspector (but not a CD3 system for comparison), these new results show a slightly higher removal effectiveness. Future research should investigate the roles that training and experience have in the ability of inspectors and boaters to remove aquatic plants and small-bodied invertebrates from watercraft.

For more information, contact Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Campbell or Southeast Wisconsin Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Molly Bodde.

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/report-compares-ais-prevention-actions/

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: AIS, aquatic invasive species, CD3, Molly Bodde, Tim Campbell

A research project recently completed by Wisconsin Sea Grant found that there was no statistical difference between an experienced watercraft inspector removing aquatic plants and small-bodied invertebrates from a watercraft using hand removal or using a CD3 waterless watercraft cleaning system. There was also no difference related to cleaning treatment duration. Study results are available in a recently finalized Wisconsin Sea Grant report authored by Tim Campbell, Molly Bodde and Titus Seilheimer.

A CD3 waterless watercraft cleaning system is used to clean a small boat during an experimental trial. (Photo: Molly Bodde)

Experimental trials consisted of a researcher placing a known amount of Eurasian watermilfoil or a mixture of spiny water fleas and wetland plant seeds on a watercraft. Then the inspector used each cleaning treatment for 90 or 180 seconds. The researcher then collected the removed specimens and recovered the remaining specimens to determine the percentage of specimens removed for each trial.

The same inspector completed every trial—a trained Wisconsin Clean Boats, Clean Waters inspector with two summers of inspection experience. The inspector did not have any previous experience with the CD3 cleaning system.

A key finding from the study was that a trained, experienced inspector can be very effective removing plants and small-bodied organisms from watercraft, with the inspector removing between 93 to 99 percent of aquatic plants and 80 to 92 percent of small-bodied invertebrates with the treatments, with no statistical difference between the methods.

Compared to a previous, similar study that also used a trained inspector (but not a CD3 system for comparison), these new results show a slightly higher removal effectiveness. Future research should investigate the roles that training and experience have in the ability of inspectors and boaters to remove aquatic plants and small-bodied invertebrates from watercraft.

For more information, contact Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Tim Campbell or Southeast Wisconsin Aquatic Invasive Species Outreach Specialist Molly Bodde.

Original Article

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

News Releases – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/news/report-compares-ais-prevention-actions/

Jennifer Smith

On:
In: Asian carp, Bonnie Willison, carp barrier, Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Chris Hamerla, Chuck Shea, Molly Bodde, Phil Skawinski, Sydney Widell, Titus Seilheimer, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Chuck Shea, with the USACE, explains the 120-year history of the canal and its charge from Congress to stop the spread of AIS through the canal — a charge that came in 1996. Image by Moira Harrington.

Last Friday, I went to the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which is outfitted with a set of thrumming electrical barriers. These barriers churn out an alternating current 34 times per second, each with a duration of 2.3 milliseconds. The goal is to turn back any invasive Asian carp set on making the journey into the world’s largest freshwater system. If established, it’s theorized the voracious eaters would decimate food sources at the expense of larger native fish.

I went with Bonnie Willison, Sea Grant’s digital storyteller, and Sydney Widell, an undergraduate with our program. Fisheries Specialist Titus Seilheimer and Southeast Wisconsin Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Specialist Molly Bodde met us there, as did Chris Hamerla, a regional aquatic invasive species specialist with Golden Sands Resource and Conservation Development Council Inc., and Paul Skawinski, citizen lake monitoring network educator from the University of Wisconsin-Extension Lakes Program. Both are based in Stevens Point.

Willison and Widell are working on a multipart podcast series with a focus on AIS. Willison was tenacious in her efforts to secure permission from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) for our visit to Romeoville, Illinois. These are the folks who manage the site of what’s been called the world’s largest electric barrier, actually three of them with 155-foot sections of electrodes at the bottom of the 27-foot-deep canal.

A fourth barrier is under construction and will have three times the power of the existing ones. The USACE plans to throw the switch on that in early 2021.

This is ground zero in the battle to keep Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes through a manmade waterway linking Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River Basin. It’s a 120-year-old unnatural connection, enabling marine transport and a cleaner Chicago, since stormwater and treated wastewater now flows out of that city thanks to an engineering feat that reversed the natural course of the water. It’s also provided a highway to mix species between the two aquatic systems that nature never intended to mix.

I’m not someone who geeks out on engineering, shipping or electricity. And it certainly wasn’t the promise of lovely waterside aesthetics that drew me south. This section of the canal is set amid a heavily industrialized stretch with belching petrochemical refineries.

The area around the electrical barriers is heavily industrialized. Image by Moira Harrington.

No, my emotions got revving because of what this place represents. Eight USACE employees, some consultants with barrier manufacturer Smith-Root and a whole lot of electrical buzz are all that stands between the Illinois River’s Starved Rock Pool, which supposedly holds the planet’s largest concentration of Asian carp and is about 60 miles from where I visited, and the rippling waves of Lake Michigan. Wow!

I wasn’t the only one expressing emotions. Widell said she has “peaked” now that she’s had a visit. Our lead AIS Specialist Tim Campbell wasn’t able to make the trip but responded to Seilheimer, aka @DrFish on Twitter, with #jealous.

Hamerla told the story about how Skawinski had texted him earlier in the week: “Call me ASAP.” When the two connected and Skawinski extended the invitation, Hamerla’s response was reportedly an enthusiastic, “Heck, yea,” leading to a 4 a.m. departure from Stevens Point to meet at the appointed hour.

Strong feelings weren’t limited to our group. Chuck Shea, USACE barrier project manager, said what motivates him on a daily basis is, “Knowing that you’re working on something that benefits so many people.”

The podcast episode about Asian carp and the barrier will be released in spring or early summer. At that time and after listening, Willison and Widell are betting you’ll get some emotions going, too.

Original Article

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

Blog – Wisconsin Sea Grant

https://www.seagrant.wisc.edu/blog/asian-carp-dispersal-barrier-elicits-emotions/

Moira Harrington