Researchers at the University of Minnesota are trying to prevent the spread of Asian Carp. They have installed a new sonic deterrent system with five speakers that produce a specific sound at Lock and Dam 8 on the Mississippi River, near Genoa.

State lottery has funded this project and about $7,000 has been collected in private donations. The invasive fish is also known as Asian Carp.

The Army Corps of Engineers and Wisconsin and Minnesota fisheries officials gave permission for installing the speakers last week. The speakers were installed with the help of specialty divers from La Crosse.

"We turn this sound on automatically whenever these gates open, so the sound pulses out for that brief moment in time", Peter Sorensen of the University of Minnesota said.

The first time speaker was installed at Lock 8 because it is located at south of the Mississippi's joining together with the Minnesota river and for also providing protection from invasive carp.

Some local businesses are concerned that the noise created by speakers can scare any local fish. But according to researchers speakers will only produce specific sound that will only affect invasive carp.

To evaluate the possibility of developing unified river flow management, researchers are using the school's super computers.

The researchers are also planning to install a sophisticated sonar system at lock 8 to find out the sound effect on both Asian carp and native fish. The fisheries and ecosystems of the entire Mississippi river face a threat from Asian carp.

According to Sorensen, they do not believe that this time native fish will get affected because they are different from carp and have special hearing abilities and sensibilities.