Big Day Yesterday - BAFF news conference below Barkley Dam

In case you missed it, yesterday was a media day below Barkley Dam where they displayed the new Bio Acoustic Fish Fence (BAFF). They have started installation now that the TVA and Corps of Engineers finally ended their flood control mission on July 17th that's been active for 210 consecutive days, which is a new record.

From the looks of it, it appears they are cutting a keyway into bedrock on the bottom of the river to make a slot for the BAFF to slide/anchor into. This is a new type of application of the BAFF that has never been tested before. With it being installed at a lock, it will be subjected to strong currents from propwash created by the barges that pass over it entering the lock, as well as debris that they stir up. It's a very robust design and it will be interesting to see how it holds up. It's a 3 year test with the US Fish and Wildlife and Corps of Engineers, after the test it will be removed for further analysis and tests. If the test is successful, more installations will be authorized in similar type areas/situations across KY and the rest of the country.

The goal is to keep the Asian Carp out of the lock, which will keep them below the dam. Since Asian Carp typically cannot successfully spawn in a lake due to a lack of a strong enough current, the BAFF hopefully will stop them from entering the lake through the lock, and whatever ones are still left in the lake will be removed through continued commercial fishing efforts.

KDFWR also showcased how effective electro-fishing can be at the event. There's a video of it where they did it below the dam, I will try to find it and post a link.

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A couple of pictures of showing what it will kind of look like once installed. It will create a wall of bubbles and use sound and light as well to scare the carp away from it.

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Electro-Fishing video........

https://youtu.be/RPevkek4s8Q

There are multiple species of Asian Carp, the two largest most-known species in this battle are the Bighead and Silver Carp. The Bighead do not jump like the Silvers, the Bighead also can grow to a much larger size than the Silver Carp. The Bighead has been present in Kentucky and Barkley Lakes much longer than Silver Carp, because the Bighead does not jump, it's presence has been mostly overlooked by anglers and recreational boaters for quite some time. Bighead and Silver Carp are commonly found in the Mississippi River and in the Ohio River up to the Markland pool near Covington. Bighead carp have been reported past the Greenup pool, north of Ashland, but are rare above the Markland pool. In addition to the main rivers, these species have also been found in most of their tributaries, including the Tennessee, Cumberland, Green and Kentucky rivers among several others. Recently, Asian carp have been found in the tailwater of Taylorsville Lake and Green River Lake. They are assumed to be in the Barren River Lake tailwater.

Asian carp can out-compete native species for food; Asian Carp do not have a stomach to process small baitfish like shad, their diet consists of the microscopic plankton that is vital to many species such as paddlefish, shad, and newly hatched fry. Asian Carp are filter feeders, they swim with their mouths open, using comb like structures called gill rakers to strain plankton from the water, similar to that of paddlefish.

Asian Carp typically cannot successfully spawn in Kentucky or Barkley Lake. The Asian Carp spawn is triggered not by the calendar or weather, or a specific water temp, but is triggered by an increase in current any time water temps are above 65 degrees. One mature female Asian carp can produce more than 1 million eggs each year, current is necessary to keep the eggs high enough in the water column to survive/hatch; without enough current the eggs fall too deep into the water column and die. Conditions in Kentucky and Barkley Lakes haven't been favorable for a successful Asian Carp spawn since 2015.

For more information, check the KDFWR Asian Carp information page or the KDFWR Western Kentucky Fisheries pages.

https://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Asian-Carp-Information.aspx

https://www.facebook.com/westerndistrictfisheries/

Wonderful news. Thanks for posting!


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com Fishing mobile app

****UPDATE****

All on-land activities and construction complete, units are being placed in the water now and expected to be operational in just a few weeks.

They had to delay the deployment of the BAFF at Barkley Lock during the months of August and September to accommodate navigation traffic during a required maintenance closure at neighboring Kentucky Lock on the Tennessee River.

Sections of bio acoustic fish fence submerged at Barkley Lock > Nashville District > News Stories


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