One of the safety rules I had to follow while filming was "don't touch two different metal things at the same time", just in case of any stray voltage. That's how powerful the barrier is.

One interesting thing not mentioned: the local paramedics have been given a 'no rescue' order. If you foolishly go into or near the electrified water and become injured, no one will come save you. The risks to the rescue personnel are too high.

I find it ironic how the little plant behind Tom is an Ailanthus altissima (chinese tree of heaven) - an invasive species that is an entirely different problem of its own and how it isnt bothered by the huge facility for preventing IAS spread its growing on.

I work at the refinery attached to this place and Its so cool to see someone I watch regularly on KZfaq film where I work and make a video about things that actually directly impact me.

Tom has found the greatest niche. Interesting things are everywhere. I'm just glad someone interesting finds these interesting places

If you said "Guess why you can't kayak from the Gulf of Mexico to the great lakes." none of my guesses would be "because of a deadly electric fish barrier."

This is such a funny example for how seemingly small mistakes sometimes require literally giant solutions

Maybe they should add a locks system where barges stop in the middle and they pulse the water in that middle zone with extra voltage a few times to make sure even smaller fish are knocked out. The locks could also double as a maintenance system, allowing them to block off the waterway entirely when the electric barrier needs to be serviced.

I hope the carp don't figure out how to dig a tunnel past this. Those carpal tunnels can be wicked.

Loved how he explained how a fish could get knocked out and essentially wake up like someone would in a ditch after a bender.

I think stories like this are such good examples of unintended consequences. Both the problem and it’s possible solutions come from long lists of potentially spiraling unintended consequences

Ive worked on 3 different tests or other systems for the Corp and they didn’t go well. The only serious solution is to crank this system to 11 and fry everything moving through.

“US Army Electric Fish Barrier” is objectively incredibly funny and just seems like one of those web titles you’d see in Futurama as a headline for a news paper

For anyone interested, a similar barrier has been proposed for the Suez canal in Egypt, to prevent fish from the Indian Ocean come to the Mediterranean. This migration is apparently facilitated by rising sea temperatures, and invasive species are already making a dent on the fish of the great Med. Most of them are inedible too (or even toxic to humans) so this is also a potential economic disaster for millions of people.

i imagine this river as a kind of urban legend shared amonst fish families,all sit around their fish table "fish dad? why dont we go past the barrier of no fish return?" "son, there was once a story of the barrier of no fish return, nobody knows if its true or not... the barrier is impossible to get past, no matter what you do, you just wake up where you started." "why does that happen? fish dad?" *fish war flashbacks*

In just four months, this has become one of Tom's most popular videos. Good Job.

There's something magical about reading the words "US ARMY ELECTRIC FISH BARRIER" on a GUI, and also knowing that it's powerful enough for just standing near it to be at least mildly concerning for a human.

I'm loving this "Tom Scott tours the midwest" series!

Well spoken man about this barrier. Enjoyed this presentation !

When you forget the l in sparkling water

There is no rescue plan only a recovery plan. Is what I was told if we fell into the water as a sub contractor on this project. There's so much electricity pumped into the ground that the nearby railroad track crossing would open randomly. Coolest project I've ever been on.

I remember when they were setting this up. that was a scary few years. A lot of people thought it was too late. At one point they found a carp in the lake, so they literally poisoned a several mile stretch of the lake, killing everything so they could examine all the fish corpses. I dont remember if they found more. But these barriers couldnt go up fast enough. Ironically the lake is now being killed by clams. The water has never been cleaner, but they're apparently causing problems for other species As for closing the canal. It might be the right choice, but it will never happen. Chicago doesnt exist without the canal. I honestly believe they might go as far as poisoning the entire river before they closed the canal. It's that important to so many industries across multiple states.

Dude I didn't know you were in Peoria. I live here. That's awesome. Hope you had a good time.

I've just realised that behind Tom is a bird constantly taking off and landing due to the shocks

My dad and I canoed through a school of these on the Fox River in illinois, we were both hurt by fish jumping. They were everywhere!

Just stuns them. For a minute, I thought the Army Corps of Engineers had actually created the world’s largest fish fry .

these carp are highly prized in Asian cuisine. i say incentivize the commercial fishing industry to overfish these carp out of the rivers. i'm guessing there must be a practical reason why this hasn't already been done

Very interesting segment. I had no idea electric barrier existed.

SImilar thing happened here in Australia in the 1930's, Sugar Cane farmers had problems with cane beetles, they decided to import the cane toad to deal with them. Unfortunately the toads were not interested in eating the beetles, and now we have plague proportions of cane toads that have decimated the native wildlife of the areas that they have invaded.

It's a constant battle. The Great Lakes are also constantly fighting other invasive species like Zebra Mussels. They're non-native and mess with all kinds of things. I believe they arrived in the ballast water tanks of large ships.

Tom really did show us all the world ...enjoy your break mate but your content deserves the label ...blod-ey brilliant!

I used to be a tour guide on the Chicago river and we would talk about these fish. The lakes also have a zebra mussel problem. Chicago's waterways and sanitation system is so interesting

As a person who lives 5 miles away from this I did not know this was in fact electrified. Thanks Scott!

Holy carp! This is ingenious.

From what i know carp is just an invasive species, which is why people can overfish them, but at the same time they build lakes and breed carp in there specifically for fishing

I appreciate Tom’s professionalism. Cruising KZfaq watching funny things is nice, but every now and then these informational ones done very well are a nice refresh.

Thanks for letting the engineer do the talking...he was very good in his explanation. Definitely deserves the job...

I heard that if these carps make it into the great lake, at least one of them will turn into a red gyarados.

This is one of the smartest thing I've seen since a long time, one idea that makes everyone happy

love that @1:22 Tom happens to be standing right in front of an Ailanthus altissima (aka Tree of Heaven) sapling, a horribly invasive tree that we brought over as an ornamental garden plant, and is currently doing much of the same as the carp he's talking about

The problem with the Asian Carp and the Great Lakes is that they arent just in the Illinois River. They are also making their way upstream from the east into Lake Erie, which presently lie unprotected...

Electric water? You mean Sprite?

This was really fascinating! Thanks! So many interesting stuff everywhere. Just need to learn about it. :)

I actually worked on this job site before. If you drop a tool on the ground you have to pick it upin a specific way to avoid being shocked by excess current.

One possible extreme measure not yet taken is a full on dry span with conveyors, dragging barges out of the water, over a mesh barrier and through pressure jets, into the other side

1:47 - I love how he says "we have chosen this way very strategically" People who created this fence were the same people who thought that death from flamethrower is least painful and lobotomy is the best treatment of schizophrenia.

I've actually gone hiking many times right by the Illinois and Michigan canal, sometimes starting in Romeoville, Illinois. I never knew about invasive carp or the electrification of the canal, but I will say I did consider tresspassing and swimming in the canal for fun with the ships. I'll definitely be rethinking that idea. Great video.

Never thought Tom Scott would be visiting my town, I didn’t realize the electrified waterway was such a big deal until a bunch of videos got posted.

fishes that actually trying to run out from carps: are you kidding me?

These electric barriers are more secure than Jurassic Park and all they do is defending against carps.

I work on the Illinois River pushing barges, for the same company that owns the towboat in this video. I am actually sitting just a few miles from the electric barrier right now. We have to lay grounding wires between the barges and the boat pushing them. The voltage is enough that a loose connection can cause an arc strong enough to weld the wire to the deck fittings. A connection with an inadequate wire such as car jumper cables can actually melt the wire.

Nice! We've got invasive carp here in Australia as well; it's on a smaller scale, because our rivers are smaller and more isolated from one another, but it's still bad. There's a control & eradication program running, and as a by-product of that you can get carp-derived plant fertiliser for quite cheap. That part is nice, at least.

I am shocked by the entire situation.

"There is no way for the carp to get past this point." That's a good one dude!

My dad was part of the crew that built that pipeline in the background, one carries product and the other is for support. Pipefitters Local 597 Chicago, probably over 40 years ago.

There's koi that got lose into lake Michigan when the barrier failed. This happened a couple of years ago. We have Japanese carp running around the lake. Plus idiots went down to the lake and dumped the tropical fish in or flushed them.

wow human intervention who would imagine that

And one day, Bob the Masochistic Carp, conquered the Great Lakes.

"The US Army Corps of Engineers has built a wall of automated gun turrets to engage any hostile carp that attempt to rush the checkpoint"

That electric grid in the water is terrifying and I'm sure effective. I say terrifying because I had a friend years ago killed by being electrocuted in water. Faulty wiring on the boat dock, he dropped something in the water, went in to get it, horrible way to go. I wasn't there but I still get emotional thinking about that whole mess.

Every day is truly a school day! Never stop learning folks!

The problem is birds carry fish eggs and other larvae to naturally stock lakes as they fly. This is not a guarantee that they won't get there. It might slow them.

Its the same in Australia, I went to a lake just outside Adelaide and it has nothing but carp in it, no local species.

As a habitat ecologist, I HATE those 20th century American planners for their arrogance and hubris. They introduced countless invasive species as “solutions” to solve simple problems they were too lazy to deal with responsibly. So many amazing ecosystems across America have been utterly and irrevocably destroyed because of invasive species introduced by 20th century planners. My local ecosystem here on the Texas coast is Gulf Coast Tall Grass Prairie. There used to be 6.5 million acres of it here in Texas. Now over 99.9% of that habitat is lost, thanks in no small part to invasive species such as the Chinese tallow tree and various South American grasses.

Finally someone of decent size commented on this. Believe it or not, my father got knocked out from an Asian carp jumping out of the water on the Illinois around the time this started. The things can get huge (by Midwestern standards).

Seems like a matter of time before they find a way up stream. A natural disaster, flood, power outage, or the little carp that could.

The barrier will only work for a short time. If you kill every fish in a pond, a few years later it will be full of fish again, assuming whatever killed the original fish is now gone. Where do the new fish come from? Do they walk in, no. Do they swim in, no. Do they fly in, amazingly, yes. Fish eggs get stuck on bird feathers, and can be transported to other nearby bodies of water. This is why the same species of fish end up in disconnected bodies of water. Birds will help the invasive carp bypass the barrier.

Another Tom Scott production on a subject I did not know existed, that I am delighted to have spent 10 minutes of my life - thanks Tom

Loved listening to the engineer who works at the fish barrier, he really knows his stuff and explained it well.

i live in Ontario and we have carp in our lakes already, specifically in georgian bay which is connected to lake huron.

Those fishes really know how to Carpe Diem

I work on a river boat and pass through there on occasion pushing barges. When we pass through, we have to run a steel wire from our boat to the barge that we're faced up to because there is a layer of rubber between the boat and the barges. This is to provide continuity of the electricity. When we pass through the arch that is behind Scott in several of the shots, you can see the electricity arcing between the boat and the arch.

12 years ago one of my Biology professors left mid-semester to take a position in Oklahoma to work on solutions to the carp invasion... while I continued in school I was surrounded by students and professors all studying and moving either up or down the river to work on it. Here we are. Interesting.

I like the fact that the boat engine from the beginning had an anti-carp-shield. :D

[Area locked at your level]

I think the idea of adding miniature "locks" makes a lot of sense. Bring the barge in, shut the door, shock the crap out of anything in the water with EXTREME voltages, the open the other door and send it on it's way. If power goes out, the door is still there. A few strategic high pressure pipes/gates will keep things out of the lock area when not open and maintain water flow.

I was the engineer on a boat that regularly passed through here while the barrier was being built and later while it was in 24/7 operation. The narrator is telling it like it is; we were not allowed on tow or on deck while transiting the barrier. I understand that a second barrier is to be built on the downstream of Brandon Road Lock in Joliet, as well. They have highway style programmable warning signs above and below the barrier, my crew wanted to hack the signs so that the last line it displayed was "FISH FRY TONITE!" 🙂

learned more from tom than i did from 12 years in school

imagine someone just manually takes a bunch of carp and dump them in the lake

Just stuns them. For a minute, I thought the Army Corps of Engineers had actually created the world’s largest fish fry

I'm starting to worry that a single long blackout or a powerful solar storm would singlehandedly destroy the entire ecosystem all over the Great Lakes

Electrifying water feels like some strange newly added video game mechanic

Given 100 years or more, this Electrified barrier will create fish resistant to electricity and this barrier. Would consider this to be a temporary solution.

As a Peorian, these carp are fun to watch when eating at the Steak and Shake in East Peoria, but I’ve heard stories of people being knocked unconscious from them. A few personal boats that go fishing in the Illinois have to have cages around their boats so that you don’t get knocked out yourself.

I worked for the illinois department of natural resources in 2009-2012 when the carp problem was at a fever pitch. Charters and recreational boating was at an all time low because the carp would jump into boats and injure passengers

I'm not sure I understand how a bird can touch the water and not be stunned/shocked, yet a fish will be stunned/shocked touching the same column of water?

We eradicated Carp from two lakes in Tasmania's highlands !Some eggs were brought in with what we think was in some fishermen's waders ! It took three years from memory and No More Karp in Tasmania Lakes

This reminds me a little of the buffelgrass problem facing Arizona these days. It was bought from Africa to the area in the 1970s as a drought resistant grass for cattle and for erosion control. This grass seemed ideally suited to the area as it can go for 8 months in searing heat and rebound with a little water. Fire can't destroy it as buffelgrass roots rebound quickly in charred soil. No one considered how its introduction might effect other plants and animals. Because part of buffelgrass' annual process is to become dormant and dry out, the areas where it is introduced become tinderboxes. When fires occur, it kills the other plants in animals in the area, leaving the buffelgrass to grow even stronger the following year. Fast forward to today and buffelgrass is everywhere. Its introduction is now effecting Arizona's iconic saguaro cactus. The only way to get rid of buffelgrass is to pull it up by its roots and volunteers have been going into the desert and doing just that for decades. This has slowed the spread but unfortunately there's no way to eradicate it completely.

The Great Lakes have already taken a beating from invasive species. In fact, the sport fishing industry on the Lakes developed in part as an effort to restore the ecosystem after previous invasions destroyed the commercial fisheries. The book "The Death and Life of the Great Lakes" by Dan Egan covers it very well.

"Hey, how did you get that concussion?" "I got hit in the head by a fish."

It seems like it is only a matter of time before enough of those fish make it past the barrier or that someone will move some of the fish past the barrier.

It's so sad the damage that invasive species can cause because they were introduced as a quick fix to a problem. I'm sure that most Aussies know about Cane toads, but they were introduced to deal with cane beetles. Unfortunately their toxins kill a lot of native animals and they now can be found all over eastern Australia. Humans can make such a huge impact with small decisions.

I did some school projects (for my major in college) on this and other invasive species. It’s very interesting, but there are still some evidence of asian carp in the lakes already, mainly due to temporary barrier outages

I am really comfy knowing all that stands between me and these things is... Chicago.

They need to hype silver carp as a luxury dining experience.

Hi Tom Scott, We have something similar but different in the Netherlands. There is a sluise or lock between a saltwater and freshwater that is supposed to stay separated. They originally pumped the salt water out of the bottom and pumped freshwater back in before opening the lock, but now they use bubble walls too keep the water separated. It looks really cool, and can be another interesting place video.

Meanwhile in 2075: “The invasion of toxin-adapted electric carp now bears down on Montreal, shocking anything that tries to get in their way…”

*Achievement unlocked: Tactical Fishing*

I am the captain of a commercial towboat and used to run up the ten-Tom waterway and Ohio, Cumberland rivers. I can attest to how bad the problem is!! In some areas it is a constant battle with them committing suicide on the deck of our boats, even jumping high enough to reach the decks of loaded barges. At some locks, where our speed is very slow, the bottom deck can become covered in fish, blood and scales. It looks like a murder scene…. Our deck crews are in a constant battle keeping the vessel clean and minimizing slip hazards. One of my more clever hands devised a system of netting, held in place with strong magnets which can be put up to shield the lower deck. Some of these fish are just so big and throw themselves with such force, even netting isn’t 100% effective.