Editorial

Asian Carp Threat Demands Clear Answers 

Alarming news about Asian carp threatening the Great Lakes repeatedly grabbed headlines this past fall.  In October the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy joined other conservation groups in calling for immediate action by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers to stop Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan.  Along with fellow members of the Healing Our Waters Coalition, the Conservancy contacted Great Lakes area senators and congressmen to urge their support for work needed to prevent the exotic species from by-passing an electrical barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC).  That waterway connects the Illinois River, where Asian carp are already plentiful, to Lake Michigan.  

We had been told that the voracious, filter-feeding fish had moved up the canal very close to the electrical barrier.  More troubling, they were found in the Des Plains River and in ditches that could flood and allow the carp to by-pass the barrier.  

DNA from the carp was reportedly detected from water samples taken less than 100 feet from the barrier, and scientists called for:  

An emergency physical barrier (like sandbags) between the Des Plaines and the CSSC to ensure the Des Plaines Rivers cannot flood and let live carp into the CSSC past the electrical barrier.  

An additional barrier (like a bubble/acoustic barrier) to stop the carp from migrating upstream in the Des Plaines River.  

Filling of sections of the Illinois & Michigan (I&M) Canal so that carp cannot swim into the CSSC during floods.  

If flooding occurs, closure of locks upstream of the electrical barrier until it is certain that carp have not been carried into the Great Lakes watershed along with the floodwaters.  

Then in late November, the news got worse.  The Corp of Engineers announced that scientists at Notre Dame University had collected 32 DNA samples of Asian carp between the barrier and Lake Michigan in the Cal-Sag Channel and the Calumet River.  Those waterways connect the CSSC to Lake Michigan.  Only a navigational lock on the Calumet River remained as a possible obstacle to direct entry of the feared exotic species into the Great Lakes.  

The slow, uncertain approach employed by state and federal agencies in facing this threat is almost as troubling as the Asian carp itself.  The species escaped from Southern U.S. fish farms into the Mississippi River during floods fifteen years ago.  Fisheries biologists began tracking the steady movement of Asian carp northward.  Environmental groups warned of the threat to the Great Lakes.  Electrical barriers of questionable effectiveness were eventually built.  State and federal agencies have now ordered further testing since no Asian carp have actually been seen in the critical stretches of waterway and some people have questioned the reliability of the DNA sampling methods to detect the presence of Asian carp.  

This begs the question: why is additional testing being conducted only now?  Sampling fish populations in confined waterways is not that difficult.  Fisheries biologists can employ an array of time-tested sampling gear ranging from huge nets to electric shocking equipment to chemicals that allow partial removal of fish populations.  In the Chicago area, this should have been underway long ago because those waterways represent one of only a few bottlenecks where exotic species can potentially be stopped from entering the Great Lakes.  

By the first of December, environmental groups were calling for closure of all Illinois gateways and locks leading to Lake Michigan.  Barge companies that haul cargo were expected to challenge such action.  State and federal officials were uncertain what measures they would employ to stop the Asian carp.  

Part of the problem is that cumbersome federal procedures require the Corps to work with its Fish Barrier Advisory Panel, the U.S. Coast Guard, and a host of other agencies and stakeholders in formulating an action plan.  It抯 the kind of process that seldom, if ever, leads to quick action.  

This is all intolerable.  With hundreds of millions of dollars earmarked for Great Lakes restoration, we still seem content to stand on the train tracks waiting for the next exotic species to run us over.  This has to stop梚n Chicago.

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