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In 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted an experimental study to assess the potential for juvenile Asian carp to be both entrained and retained within barge junction gaps and transported upstream and into a navigation lock chamber in the Illinois Waterway. The results of the research illustrate that there is a potential for small Asian carp to be inadvertently trapped and transported by commercial barge tows through upstream lock chambers. The 2018 field trials were completed using three species of live small Asian carp including silver carp, bighead carp and grass carp. Work was completed in the La Grange and Peoria pools of the Illinois Waterway in Illinois where self-sustaining populations of Asian carp are already established.

This study built upon results from the 2017 barge trials which demonstrated that silver carp with a mean total length of 41.6 mm can be retained within the junction gap of barges and transported up to 6.4 km upstream in the Illinois River.