State and federal officials are applying poison to water in a 5.5-mile portion of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal as a temporary measure to keep destructive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

The area stretching from two electric fish barriers, one temporary and one permanent, located near Romeoville to the Lockport Dam will be closed to river traffic, including barges, beginning Dec. 2 for maintenances. The schedule calls for the poison rotenone to be applied Dec. 3. Chemicals to neutralize the poison will be applied to the water at the Lockport dam.

The section should be closed about four days while the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers does repairs on the newer permanent structure, which became operational just earlier this year. Recent tests suggest the temporary barrier cannot generate the power needed to guarantee all Asian carp will be kept away, officials said.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is building a second back-up permanent barrier that is expected to be online next fall.

Officials will electroshock the area to collect and safely move the few game fish, such as bass, that surveys show are there. Most of the fish that will be killed are expected to be “rough fish,” according to IDNR assistant director John Rogner. They include common carp, which have been in American waters for years, and gizzard shad, the waterways main forage fish. Dead fish will be collected and removed to a landfill. The area will eventually be restocked.

The poisoning process, which might have to be repeated in six months, will cost $1 million to $2 million. It has not been determined who will cover the cost.

Three species of fish — the bighead, silver and black carp — are collectively known as Asian carp. The Illinois Department of Natural Resources describes silver and bighead carp as filter-feeding fish that can grow to huge sizes eating vast amounts of plant and animal plankton, which all fish eat when they’re small. Biologists fear competition could hurt multibillion dollar sport fisheries throughout the Great Lakes.

In past years, annual surveys detected the main advance of the Asian carp near Starved Rock State Park at Utica. However, a team of scientists from the University of Notre Dame recently used new advanced-detection methods to find DNA evidence of the carp within a few miles of the barriers.

None of the fish have been captured using nets or electro-fishing, but those methods may be hit or miss when very few fish are present in the canal, which is relatively deep, said IDNR assistant director John Rogner.

Tournament notes

Steve Sandor and Jeremy Piacenti won the season opener of the Illinois Walleye Trail Sunday on the Illinois River with a six-fish limit weighing 12.51 pounds. They fished downstream from Hennepin. Rick Parrott and Mike Tatera were second with a limit weighing 12.23 pounds. Greg and Jerry Gott were third with a limit of 9.68 pounds.

Tournament director Bob Kidd said the river was producing lots of fish again, but many were small. And, remember, that was before the last round of rain.

The next tournament is Nov. 29 at Spring Valley.

Scott Richardson is Pantagraph outdoor editor. Contact him at (309) 820-3227 or email srichardson@pantagraph.com. Share stories and read past outdoor and fishing columns at www.pantagraph.com/blog