AUTHORS: Brendon Tran, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks; Liam Odell, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks; Ben Neely, Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks
ABSTRACT: Introduced invasive carp have become established throughout the Missouri River basin. In Kansas, they have entrenched themselves within the lower 37 miles of the Kansas River. Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) has been conducting invasive carp removals in the Kansas River since 2020. To increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the removal efforts, KDWP monitors the demographics within the Kansas River and Missouri River (near Atchison, KS). Aging invasive carp structures, specifically lapilli otoliths, is integral to understanding invasive carp population demographics. Fisheries professionals agree that a team of 2-3 researchers aging otoliths together can produce a precise age for otoliths. However, assembling a team of 2-3 researchers can be challenging, and the process of aging otoliths is time-consuming. As KDWP continues to remove invasive carp and collect more aging structures, it has become evident that we should evaluate other methods of aging otoliths more efficiently. As such, we had two individuals independently age the otoliths twice, with a one-month gap between each attempt, to assess whether a single person’s aging results would be consistent and repeatable.
