What the experts are saying
Posted under: “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates the trade in wild animals, but it’s also charged with promoting industries like aquaculture that are often responsible for introducing invasives. When three species of Asian carp escaped from catfish farms into the Mississippi River, Illinois petitioned the wildlife service to add Asian carp to the injurious wildlife list; aquaculturists lobbied against the listing. Three years later a decision is still pending.”
-Susan McGrath, “Attack of the Alien Invaders,” National Geographic
http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/attack-alien-invaders/
‘The flooding is the biggest issue,’ said [Richard Lanyon, executive director of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago]. ‘The problem is that it is not fully understood if these carp will damage the ecology of the Great Lakes, and I think it’s a big stretch that it will adversely affect the lake.’”
-Leslie Streicher, “Carp threaten Chicago shipping: Illinois politicians unite over lawsuit,” Medill News Service
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=153370
“There’s no question this ugly, stinky fish has an image problem in the United States. But so many varieties of carp, including the feared Asian carp, have been popular in ethnic cuisines for so long that some can’t help but see Illinois’ current crisis as the culinary opportunity of a lifetime.”
-Joel Hood, “Turning Asian carp from a menace into dinner,” Los Angeles Times
http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/16/nation/la-na-asian-carp16-2010jan16
“They are living missiles, and that’s not trivial,” says David Lodge, director of Notre Dame’s Center for Aquatic Conservation.
-Bryan Walsh, “Asian Carp in the Great Lakes? This means war!,” Time
http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1962108,00.html#ixzz0kfV9JS1L
“The lakes can’t heal themselves. The native species can’t defend themselves,” committee chair Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., said. “It’s us who are the custodians and can take these actions.”
-Joel Hood, “Illinois to step up fight against Asian carp,” Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-0210-asian-carp-hearing-20100209,0,7450351.story
“The debate over how best to stop the carp has intensified along with the invasive fish’s seemingly irresistible progress toward Lake Michigan. Illinois has battled other Great Lakes states in a war of words about the costs and risks associated with Asian carp.”
-David Greising and Daniel Libit, “Carp solution could provide financial benefits,” New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/07/us/07cncimpact.html
“When a lot of people say, ‘The game is over’ when it comes to Asian carp getting into the Great Lakes, I don’t think so,” said Michael Hoff, an aquatic invasive species expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “It’s a different game we play. But it’s not over.”
-Joel Hood, “Scientists trying to fish out Asian carp from Great Lakes,” Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/la-na-great-lakes-pest25-2010mar25,0,1352253.story
“It will take decades for any signs of the Asian carp invasion to show,” said Duane Chapman, a research fish biologist with the U.S. Geological Survey. “Five to 10 years from now we won’t be able to find them in the lakes and we’ll think we overreacted to the threat. Then 20 years after that the shoe will drop.”
-Leslie Streicher, “Illinois officials strategize unified effort to fight lake invasion of carp,” Medill News Service
http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=154284
“Like an aquatic pig, it eats by snuffling among the roots of water plants, sending up clouds of river muck that make it difficult for other fish to find food. Biologists call them ecosystem engineers for this tendency to take an underwater garden and leave it a muddy hog wallow. Fishermen attract them the way you might gather your swine, by scattering a handful of canned corn. All this has earned them an unwholesome reputation.”
-Ryan Chew, “Lawyers, carp and money,” Chicago Reader
http://www.chicagoreader.com/gyrobase/asian-carp-great-lakes-lawsuit-supreme-court/Content?oid=1572160&showFullText=true
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Asian Carp By the Numbers
Black Carp, Grass Carp, Silver Carp, Bighead Carp by the Numbers
| $16 billion | worth of goods transported annually to, from and through Illinois by river barge |
|---|---|
| $7 billion | fishery could be economically affected by Asian carp infiltrating into the Great Lakes |
| $4.7 billion (over 20 years) | could be lost by the local economy if the locks are closed, according to a study commissioned by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce |
| $1.4 billion (over 20 years) | could be lost by the local economy if the locks are closed, according to an earlier study commissioned Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox |
| $100 million | invested in the past 10 years on infrastructural improvements along the Chicago River by the city and the Chicago Park District |
| 19 million tons | commodities moved through the O’Brien, Chicago and Lockport locks combined in 2008 |
| 16.9 million tons | commodities moved through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 2007 |
| $1.8 million | the state of Illinois’ contribution to the studying and testing of the electric barrier system |
| 700-800 | security checks per month performed along the lakefront, the Chicago and Calumet Rivers and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal by the Chicago Police Department’s Marine Operations, as part of its homeland securities responsibilities |
| 81 miles | total length of waterways in the city of Chicago |
| 40-50 pounds | average weight of an Asian carp |
| 37 | bridges over Chicago’s inland waterways can be raised |
| 27 miles | length of lakefront within the city of Chicago |
| 7 | species of carp native to Asia have been introduced into the U.S. |
| 6 | states, including Michigan, New York, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are suing Illinois to force the closure of the locks |
| 3 | defendants, the state of Illinois, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers fighting against the suit led by Michigan |
| 3 | locks on the waterway, controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, allow for navigation: the Lockport Powerhouse and Lock, the O’Brien Lock and Dam, and the lock at the Chicago River Controlling Works |
| 3 | species of Asian carp considered invasive and a threat to the Great Lakes |
| 0 | carp have been found in the Great Lakes to date |
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Asian Carp Multimedia
Joseph Schwieterman, professor of public service management at DePaul University, discusses the economic effects of closing the locks on the tourism industry. Schwieterman said if the Chicago locks must be closed, Great Lakes’ industries stand to lose approximately $4.7 billion during the next 20 years, as further detailed in his study commissioned by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce. A PDF of Schwieterman’s study.
The Unintended Consequences of Asian Carp from chicagoloopster on Vimeo.
Click on the graphic below for description of Asian Carp’s path up the Mississippi River.
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Asian Carp In The News
The first electronic barriers to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes were implemented in 2002, but the fish’s resilience and continued spread has led to growing concerns voiced by multiple states and environmental agencies. Asian carp have made headlines in recent months, as states disagree on the best solution to eradicate the fish from the area.
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To Catch a Carp: What’s Lurking Beneath the Depths of Chicago’s Waterways
They’ve become notorious for lurking in the Illinois River and for threatening to take over Lake Michigan, but what’s so fishy about Asian carp?
Three species of Asian carp threaten the Great Lakes: the bighead, silver and black carp. Asian carp can eat as much as 40 percent of their own body weight in food each day, according to Asiancarp.org, a Web site supported by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. The fish also reproduce rapidly, and their overpopulation leads to habitat destruction and food resources’ depletion, both of which threaten native species and the Great Lakes ecosystem, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The smaller silver carp have been known to jump out of the water when disturbed by boats, injuring recreational boaters. Asian carp also prove a substantial economic threat, particularly to the fishing, shipping and transportation industries.
Who is involved in eradicating the carp from the river systems and preventing them from entering the Great Lakes? What methods have these organizations employed?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the State of Illinois, the International Joint Commission, the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have been working together to devise and implement methods to catch these slippery fish. Environmental DNA testing, developed by the University of Notre Dame, helps to monitor the fishes’ whereabouts. Among the methods currently being used to try to catch the carp are: electric barriers, poison (Rotenone) and nets, according to the EPA.
How would the fish cross into Lake Michigan?
The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a manmade waterway that connects the Mississippi River system and Lake Michigan, contains an electric barrier built to deter the carp from entering the lake, according to Asiancarp.org. The fish would only have to cross this barrier, or have someone toss a live carp into Lake Michigan (though Illinois state law prohibits the transportation of live Asian carp).
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