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Actual photo from Illinois Waterways shows threat from Asian Carp.Boaters must be careful because they jump out of the water when startled by the sound of a boat motor. One may go for miles and see no sign of them, then encounter them suddenly.

Scientists Poised to Poison Voracious Carp in Battle to Save Great Lakes

Invasive Species of Asian Carp Near Barriers to Great Lakes in Chicago

November 22, 2009       Leave a Comment
By: Dave Rogers

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(EDITOR'S NOTE: See related MyBayCity.com stories by using search function; Aug. 1, 2009, "How St. Lawrence Seaway, Invasive Species Threaten to Destroy Great Lakes," and Jan. 4, 2005, "Battle On to Bar Asian Carp, Another Threat to Great Lakes Fishing.")

As Asian carp edge toward Lake Michigan, scientists next month will poison a Chicago-area river in an attempt to "save" the Great Lakes from the predators.

Electric barriers have not stopped them so a portion of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal will be doused with the poison Rotenone in December, officials said.

Genetic evidence of the carp was found in the Illinois River within 7 miles of Lake Michigan near Chicago on Friday, according to government biologists.

The carp apparently leaped an electrical barrier considered the last line of defense for the Great Lakes.

Conservation groups called for emergency closure of all Illinois gateways and locks leading to Lake Michigan.

While Lake Huron and other lakes are considered at risk, apparently Lake Superior is too cold for the Asian predator.

In 16 years the carp have moved 600 miles from the Gulf Coast up the Mississippi River, jumped nine locks and evaded $9 million in electronic barriers designed to stop them.

"There is no reason to think that there aren't carp present when the DNA is detected," said David Lodge, genetic researcher with the University of Notre Dame. "It's hard to come to any other conclusion other than that there are carp somewhere in the region."

The carp are said to be only one lock and a dam away from causing eco-disaster since they likely would eliminate all other fish species from the lakes in short order.

A bighead carp can eat 40 percent of its weight daily in plankton and grow to 80 pounds or more. They dominate waterways by consuming all the food other species rely on. As an invasive species, the carp have no natural preda­tors in North American wa­ters.

These huge fish are so active and aggressive they are known to jump into boats and injure fishermen.

The $7-billion Great Lakes commercial and sport fishery is at risk from the carp. And boating safety is a factor as silver carp leap high in the air at the sound of a running mo­tor. Several injuries to boaters hit by flying carp on the Illinois River have been reported.

Bighead and silver carp have reached a point just below the Calumet River's O'Brien Lock, in the Des Plaines River above the Lockport lock and at the confluence of the Calumet Sag Channel and Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

"Conservationists and sportsmen alike have been tearing out their hair over the prospect of having the voracious, prolific Asian carp gobbling up walleye, perch and other fish," said MyBayCity.com outdoor analyst AuGres Bill.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has brought the sea lamprey under control over several decades, said Charlie Woo­­ley, deputy regional director for the Great Lakes at Chicago. Lamprey were sterilized and chemically poisoned, Wooley said.

Planning for control of Asian carp, however, has only just begun, he said. Spokesmen for environmental groups said that the Chicago Ship Canal must be sealed off from Lake Michigan to keep out more invasive species.

The voracious plankton eaters are creeping nearer the Great Lakes, said Army Corps of Engineers Maj. Gen. John W. Peabody, commander of the Great Lakes and Ohio River Division.

Electric cables were strung across the bottom of the Sanitary & Ship Canal to form a temporary barrier in 2002. The Corps of Engineers reinforced it in 2004 with a permanent and more powerful barrier.

But still the invasive carp surged north up the Illinois River, according to Illinois Environmental Protection Agency ecologists.

Dan Thomas, president of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, expressed concern about keeping the fish out of Lake Michigan with barriers at the O'Brien lock on the Calumet River.

"Destructive alien fish species have made it to the brink of Lake Michigan," said Illinois Sierra Club director Jack Darin. "There are not a lot of good options available at this point. No option is certain to succeed, and many have negative side effects. Still, we have no choice."

Among the possibilities under study is trying to sterilize male Asian carp, a years-long, intensive effort that would be similar to ridding the Great Lakes of sea lampreys, said Charles Wooley, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest deputy regional director. Another includes targeted poisoning of stretches of the rivers where Asian carp can be confirmed. Netting and electrofishing will start in waters where carp DNA traces were found, said John Rogner, Illinois Environmental Protection Agency assistant director.

Asian carp grow to tremendous size by eating almost half their body weight a day in plankton, the base of the food chain for other fish in the Great Lakes, said Cameron Davis of the U.S. E.P.A.

"Asian carp are like cancer cells," he said. "They can grow and spread very, very quickly and overtake other healthy organisms in ecosystems where they don't exist."

Tests at the end of September and early October showed 32 positive hits for carp DNA in the Calu­met Sag Channel of the Chica­go Sanitary and Ship Canal, even though no actual Asian carp have been found.

"The situation is so drastic, every possible pathway into the lake has got to be blocked, period," said Jeff Skelding of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. "If the carp get in, it's game over."

Barge operators already are protesting planned clo­sure of the canal for a few days in early December during poisoning of fish below the electric barriers. Shutdown would affect the 18,500 barg­es that pass through the Chicago port annually, said Lynn Muench, vice president of the American Waterways Opera­tors.

Barges are used to carry oil, ce­ment, coal, stone and other bulk materials. If the canal is closed, trucks or railroad cars would have to be used, thus increasing air pollution, she said.



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Dave Rogers

Dave Rogers is a former editorial writer for the Bay City Times and a widely read,
respected journalist/writer in and around Bay City.
(Contact Dave Via Email at carraroe@aol.com)

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