The following grant has just been provided by the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota:
Appropriation Language:
$300,000 is from the trust fund to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to develop and test sonic barriers that could be effective in preventing and controlling the movement of invasive carp in Minnesota's waterways. This appropriation is available until June 30, 2012, at which time the project must be completed and final products delivered, unless an earlier date is specified in the work program.
II. PROJECT SUMMARY AND RESULTS:
Great ecological benefit for many Minnesota lakes will be gained if effective barriers can be constructed to control the movement of invasive carp. A class of barrier technology, that shows promise for this application, is based around the use of air bubble curtains that generate sonic and other fields. Not only do the physical fields, e.g., sound and displacement, generated by bubble curtains have the potential to be targeted to exploit the biology of carp, barriers based on bubble curtains can also be inexpensive, portable, and safe.
