Paired Satellite and Acoustic Tagging to Monitor the Movements of Bigheaded Carp in the Upper Illinois River

Monitoring bigheaded carp has been a priority since their introduction and particularly important in the last decade as efforts to prevent them from entering Lake Michigan gained momentum. The advent of satellite telemetry has the potential to complement traditional acoustic passive and active telemetry efforts with the advantage that satellite telemetry provides the capability to track multiple individuals at once without the time and space limitations of traditional technologies to attain similar information. Twenty-two Bighead Carp and Silver Carp were dual-tagged with real-time GPS transmitters and acoustic tags in the Dresden Island reach of the Upper Illinois River waterway to directly compare the performance of each tag to inform management efforts. While limitations were evident during testing, satellite telemetry paired with acoustic telemetry could be useful for identifying real-time aggregations to inform contracted removal and characterizing spawning and feeding habitat to inform other management efforts.