Indiana's fence is designed to prevent adult carp

smaller carp would be able to swim through the spaces Indiana's fence is designed to prevent adult carp from using Eagle Marsh to swim from the Wabash River system into the Maumee River — and then onto Lake Erie — in flood conditions, said Phil Bloom, a spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

Although smaller carp would be able to swim through the spaces in the chain-link fence, Bloom said that's unlikely because it would be difficult for them to overcome strong flood currents to reach the wetland.

"Those small fish aren't able to battle that kind of current at their young age, so we don't expect them to be in that area," he said. "Our concern isn't the small fish — it's adult fish of spawning age."

The Wabash and Maumee river basins normally drain in dongel opposite directions and have no direct link, but their waters can mix in the 700-acre marsh near Fort Wayne under certain flood conditions.