CPOs the Frontline of Safeguarding Illinois’ Aquatic Ecosystems

Photos by Carena Van Riper.

Illinois Conservation Police Officers are tasked with a wide range of duties. They enforce state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to everything from wildlife rehabilitation, endangered species, taxidermy, fur buyers and timber harvest to watercraft, snowmobiling, hunting, trapping and angling regulations. In State Parks they enforce criminal, vehicle and drug laws. And there is much more. After a recent workshop on Aquatic Invasive Species, officers are now also functioning as “force multipliers,” aiding in the detection of crayfish, plants and fishes that threaten the health of Illinois’ native aquatic ecosystems.

Interested in facilitating a more robust resource protection network, Conservation Police Officer (CPO) Brandon Fehrenbacher, who serves the Illinois Department of Natural Resources’ (IDNR) Office of Law Enforcement in the Invasive Species Unit, teamed with resources experts from the University of Illinois, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and Illinois Natural History Survey to organize a training session for 150 Illinois CPOs. The goal was to heighten officers’ knowledge of how to identify aquatic invasive species and potentially illegal activities associated with such species.

IDNR’s Invasive Species Unit is a specialized law enforcement component of the Illinois Conservation Police. Illegal activities within commercial fishing, aquaculture, transportation, bait, pet, aquarium, live fish market, and sport fishing industries increase the risk of invasive species being introduced and established into new waters. Fehrenbacher’s involvement with aquatic invasive species reaches beyond the waters of Illinois as he currently serves as Chairman of The Great Lakes Law Enforcement Committee within the Great Lakes Fishery Commission where he has represented the Illinois Conservation Police for more than a decade. Establishing permanent dedicated law enforcement personnel to address aquatic invasive species threats within the Great Lakes Basin is a priority of the committee. The Great Lakes training effort inspired the idea of developing a training program in Illinois that Illinois organizations training Illinois Conservation Police Officers.

“Specialized training by Illinois’ talented and passionate fish, plant and crayfish experts was needed to provide officers with clear and concise information to expand their invasive species enforcement skills,” Fehrenbacher explained.

Designing the Workshop

Spearheading organization of the workshop was the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant’s Aquatic Invasive team in collaboration with Carena van Riper’s team at the University of Illinois in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences. Leading the team to design and evaluate an effective workshop was Post doctoral Research Associate Elizabeth Golebie.

“To ascertain the level of confidence officers have in teaching the public about aquatic invasive species we conducted a survey in advance of the workshop,” Golebie said. “Most of the officers noted that they worked with invasive species a few times a year and would appreciate developing a better understanding of aquatic invasive species enforcement procedures and how to communicate issues with the public.”

Workshop Day

The workshop kicked off with officers rotating between breakout sessions where experts provided information on how to identify invasive crayfish, aquatic plants and fishes. A session on Illinois laws and regulations pertaining to aquatic invasive species followed.

Invasive Crayfish

Chris Taylor, emeritus Curator of Crustaceans and a Principal Research Scientist with the Illinois Natural History Survey, was responsible for the breakout session covering two species of invasive crayfish—the rusty crayfish and red swamp crayfish.

“The rusty crayfish is native to the eastern portions of the Midwest and was first encountered by biologists in Illinois in 1973,” Taylor explained. It now occurs across the northern half of Illinois.

“The red swamp crayfish is also native to the southern United States, but its range extends northward into the tip of southern Illinois,” Taylor continued. “It became problematic when it was discovered in the Chicago area. Scientists once believed that winter temperatures limited the range of the red swamp crayfish, but the evidence of an established population far north of its traditional range disproves that belief.”

The reasons why these non-native crayfish are present in Illinois—whether they were released from live bait supplies, as by-products of the pet trade or, in the case of the red swamp crayfish, possibly released or escaped from food supply sources—isn’t known. The impact of the rusty crayfish on native aquatic resources is, however, evident.

Fehrenbacher noted that while live red swamp crayfish may not be imported and possessed; however, frozen, steamed or otherwise dead crayfish packed on ice are legal products within Illinois.

“The rusty crayfish is well documented in the scientific literature as out-competing and displacing native crayfish species,” Taylor explained. “Some states, including Wisconsin, have documented that an explosion of non-native crayfish, which eat the aquatic vegetation juvenile fishes rely on for protective cover, is harmful to sportfish populations.”

The impact of the red swamp crayfish is a story yet to unfold.

Invasive Plants

The breakout session on aquatic invasive plants conducted by Greg Spyreas focused on three of the most common and problematic aquatic plants, Eurasian water milfoil, leafy pondweed and a new invasive on the Illinois landscape, flowering rush. Examples of similar-looking native plants also were available.

All three species are found throughout Illinois but are most common in the northern two-thirds of the state.

Spyreas, an Illinois Natural History Survey botanist, started his session by reminding the officers of the incredible aquatic habitats present in Illinois, and the rich diversity of native plants present in each habitat.

“It is important that people understand the damage invasive aquatic plants have on wildlife and rare aquatic plant populations, and the significant amount of money invested to control invasive species,” Spyreas explained. “The key to minimizing or halting the continued spread is to keep people from moving plants intentionally or unintentionally. Illinois Conservation Police Officers are on the frontline and have many opportunities to educate boaters and anglers about aquatic invasive species.”

“The bottom line I stressed to the officers is that learning how to identify just these three species, and helping to keep them out of propellers and bait buckets for potential transfer to new water bodies, is enormous” Spyreas concluded. “Let’s keep these plants from taking root in as many waterways as we can.”

Invasive Fishes

Black carp, grass carp and the northern snakehead were featured during the breakout session on invasive fish.

Katie O’Reilly, Illinois Natural History Survey and Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Aquatic Invasive Species Specialist, noted that black and grass carps are less well-known than the silver and bighead carps that have garnered recognition for their high-jumping escapades on Illinois waterways. While grass carp are more prevalent in the environment, it is difficult to an untrained eye to differentiate the grass carp from the rare black carp.

“We know that the range of the black carp is slowly expanding in Illinois, but this carp species tends to hang out on the bottom of rivers and is difficult to detect during fisheries surveys,” O’Reilly explained. And now Illinois Conservation Police Officers know to watch for this fish when speaking with anglers.

Grass carp occur throughout the state and a triploid version, which is sterile, can be legally used to control weeds in ponds. Today, the majority of grass carp produced in the U.S. are made as sterile triploids, but diploids can be found in our large rivers. The illegal trade, possession, and potential importation of the diploid, fertile version is problematic because these fish could establish populations in new areas.

O’Reilly noted that the two types of grass carp cannot be differentiated visually, but require the use of genetic analysis.

She continued by saying “The goal of our training was to alert officers of potential issues they may encounter when inspecting a shipment of grass carp entering Illinois.”

The third featured fish doesn’t occur as a breeding population in Illinois—yet—but biologists are on alert for its spread westward from the mid-Atlantic states and northward up the Mississippi River from Arkansas. In 2024, a salmon angler caught a northern snake head in Burnham Harbor in downtown Chicago. It is highly likely that the northern snakehead was an illegal aquarium or food trade release. Native to temperate regions of East Asia, China, Russia, North Korea and South Korea, adult northern snakeheads are voracious predators and if established could disrupt the ecological balance of water bodies. A northern snakehead was collected in Missouri in May 2024, being the fourth northern snakehead collected in Missouri since 2019. The IDNR Invasive Species unit has investigated and confirmed the illegal possession and sale of northern snakeheads within the Illinois aquarium trade.

During the breakout session, O’Reilly pointed out identification features of two native species people commonly confuse with the northern snakehead, the bowfin and burbot.

“The net benefit of the aquatic invasive training is that we now have more eyes in the field to help locate invasive species, and people who will educate the public why such species are problematic,” O’Reilly said. “These officers have been empowered with identification tools and the knowledge they have as resource experts available to answer future questions.”

Evaluating the Workshop

Golebie noted that post workshop survey comments included an appreciation for the hands-on sessions and identification tools that left participants more confident in speaking with the general public and people in industries where aquatic invasive species may be an issue.

“The presenters did an excellent job describing the damage aquatic invasive species can cause to Illinois’ waterways and the native species that live there,” Fehrenbacher said. “The workshop presentations resulted in immediate buy-in from officers who may not have previously understood the value of AIS enforcement. Leaving the workshop, the officers were equipped to convey this message to the public.”

Workshop organizers left knowing that they had made a difference by interacting with natural resource professionals who have an immediate impact with the public.

Chris Taylor, Greg Spyreas and Katie O’Reilly each remarked at how engaged the officers were, how many questions were asked and their interest in learning more about aquatic invasive species. All with the goal of better protecting Illinois’ natural resources.

“I have enormous respect for Illinois Conservation Police Officers and was pleased that we could offer the opportunity for hands-on training and identification tools that can be used to identify two invasive species,” said Taylor. “These officers are the first point of contact we have in dealing with people who may be doing something illegal, whether intentionally or unintentionally.”

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Kathy Andrews Wright is retired from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources where she was editor of Outdoor Illinois magazine. She is currently the editor of OutdoorIllinois Journal.