Wildlife officials are planning to provide an update on how Minnesota is going to stop the spread of invasive carp.

The species has been aggressively expanding up the Mississippi for decades. Able to grow up to 45 pounds and jump up to ten feet in the air, the invasive carp poses a problem for many native species in the Midwest.

In Minnesota, the species has been spotted as far north as the Twin Cities.

However, state lawmakers hope to stop the species’ spread with a $12 million investment into a deterrent system.

The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, state lawmakers, and the Stop the Carp Coalition will highlight their deterrent system near Winona.

The technology uses lights, sounds and bubbles to block carp in the water near Lock and Dam Number 5. Another part of the system uses sound alone to deter carp but reportedly has no effect on other fish species native to Minnesota.

The DNR said it has until 2029 to install the new technology — but time is of the essence to keep the carp from spreading.

“We’re definitely working with our partners to expedite this as much as we can; however, like I said, we really want to do this right and spend the time in the scoping phase that we need to ensure that we’re getting the best impact for the state,” said Kelly Pennington of the DNR. “The DNR has been working to remove invasive carp — we have a program of tagging and tracking where we actually implant tags into some of the carp, and that helps us better target our removal efforts because they lead us to other groups of fish.”

Additional system details were provided Tuesday morning during a news conference in St. Paul. You can watch that conference in the video player below.