Asian carp reproduction and early life history in the Upper Mississippi River

Bighead carp and silver carp reproduction in the Mississippi River system has been evident since the 1990’s and despite the wealth of research devoted to their life history, dynamics contributing to their early life history and spawning behavior are still not well understood. The complementary design and synthesis of independent, agency research and monitoring provides a comprehensive insight into Asian carp production and early life history. The multi-agency collaborative assessment provides location of spawning activity (egg trawls, YOY otolith microchemistry, telemetry), frequency of spawns (egg trawls, larval light trapping, otolith microstructure, histological evidence, spawning patches through removal), and magnitude of individual spawns (larval light trapping, YOY sampling). These collective efforts have identified tributary contributions to production, identified up to 11 unique spawning events in 2016, helped identify hydrological triggers correlated with spawning behavior, production, and retention in the system, factors contributing to YOY success, and climate change contributions to invasion success. This research demonstrates the value of multi-agency partnerships to address complex issues in invasion biology.