Statistical Modeling Helps Fisheries Managers Remove Invasive Species

From ScienceDailey:

"South Dakota State statisticians and natural resource management researchers have worked together to determine the best time and location to capture and remove a maximum number of invasive carp from lake systems. 

Carp feed on bottom-dwelling macroinvertebrates, such as bloodworms, by sucking up the mud, then selecting their food and ejecting most of the non-food portion. This feeding technique dislodges vegetation and stirs up sediment, which makes the water cloudy and causes nutrient release and algal blooms, Brown explained. These actions degrade the quality of the lake water and impact native fish populations.

'Carp are not a preferred species, so they go untapped in terms of angler harvest,' Brown explained. Consequently, commercial harvest is one of the methods used to decrease carp populations. But figuring out where and when to 'cast their nets' to harvest a maximum number of carp involves complex modeling -- that's where the statisticians can help."

S.D. GFP biologists Dave Lucchesi and Todd St. Sauver, front; Matt Hennen, in orange cap, and crew remove carp from Lake Norden. Credit: Image courtesy of South Dakota State University.

The original article, which was published on December 16, 2017 in ScienceDaily, can be accessed by clicking here. 

Reference:
South Dakota State University. "Statistical modeling helps fisheries managers remove invasive species." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 December 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/12/171216154305.htm>.