MENASHA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – The Fox River Navigational System Authority is trying to reopen the Menasha Lock. It has been closed since 2015 to prevent an invasive fish, called the round goby, from spreading to Lake Winnebago.
Now, the Authority wants to install an electric barrier to reopen the lock.
Electronic voltage would pulse near the bottom of the concrete where the gobies like to swim, pushing them away or immobilizing them. The system would then use changes in water velocity to flush out the lock channel and prevent the gobies from getting into Lake Winnebago.
The authority says because gobies are bottom dwellers, the electric pulse wouldn’t affect other fish that swim into the lock.
This isn’t the first time the authority has brought this proposal to the DNR.
“The DNR has come back and they’ve identified that there are some informational data gaps. So this proposal proposes to address those data gaps with a comprehensive study,” Jeremy Cords, the CEO of Fox Locks said.
Cord tells FOX 11 those gaps are how electric currents and water velocity affect round goby at all stages of life.
“That basically will give a suite of information that addresses the swim speed for all the sizes from larval up to the juvenile and sub-adult, and it will also address the electrical gradient.”
The study has four parts with an optional fifth. The first four parts would happen in a laboratory setting.
1. Part one would allow researchers to collect adult gobies to eventually breed them in a laboratory. This is to find out what conditions they thrive in since little is known about them.
2. Part two would breed the fish.
3. Part three is an electrical field threshold study. This would focus on larval, juvenile and adult life stages of the goby to find the best electrical deterrent for each age.
4. Part four would be a swim speed study. The purpose is to find a maximum sustained swimming speed for the full range of fish sizes. This would determine the current at which each size goby can no longer swim at to flush them out of the lock.
There’s also an optional part five. That would take place in one of the Fox River locks to validate the “flushing” capability of the lock.
Only the first two parts have been approved, which allows researchers to collect adult gobies with the goal of studying them in a lab.
Ultimately, this study could cost $100-165,000. The authority has already invested about $250,000 in studies so far.
“If we had the approval today, we could have it built within 9 to 14 months,” Cords said.
But before a vote can happen about the electric barrier system, this study needs to happen first.
This proposed round goby study would be one of the world’s first. Round goby are considered invasive because they eat eggs, smaller fish and push other species out of their habitat.
