July 2010: Asian Carp

 Over the course of the past decade-plus, protecting our natural resources has become an increasingly partisan issue.

All candidates for office say that they will do the right thing to ensure healthy communities, clean water and air that we can breathe without fear. Yet many, once elected, renege on their promises. The threat of the Asian carp has elevated the tremendous problem of invasive species and Great Lakes health to a whole new level. Everyone, no matter their political stripes here in Michigan, is up in arms about the carp. But the issue has become divisive as economics and the inflexibility (and resulting de facto power) of one particular government entity --- the Army Corps of Engineers --- has come into play.

At this point, Michiganders don’t care who does it; they purely and simply want the Asian carp stopped. Last week came news of a spawning population of Asian carp in Indiana, near Lake Erie. A week before, an Asian carp was found in Lake Calumet, a mere six miles from Lake Michigan.

These fish are not “normal” fish. They eat 20 percent of their weight each day; they are voracious bottom-feeders, with their major source of food being plankton. They can weigh as much as 110 pounds.

While most state and federal agencies agree that immediate action must be taken to prevent continued spread toward and into Lake Michigan, the Army Corps of Engineers, whose main constituency over the years has been the shipping industry, is moving at a snail’s pace.

What can and should be done!?  We need a short-term and a long-term solution now.

U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-Michigan), along with Sens. Carl Levin (D-Michigan) and Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) have introduced legislation to permanently prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from entering the Great Lakes. U.S. Rep. Dave Camp (R-Michigan) also introduced legislation in the House.

The measure would require the Corps to "follow the recommendations of top experts in the field and expedite their study detailing the engineering options to permanently separate the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes."

This is important and critical news because a permanent separation of the waterways would allow cargo to pass through the Chicago locks, but prevent the water itself, and any invasive species living in it, from entering Lake Michigan.

But that’s a long-term solution.

The short-term solution? I haven’t got the full answer, but here's part of it: Continued and regular eDNA testing throughout the basin to monitor (and then prohibit) expansion of the Asian carp is essential. In places like Lake Calumet, immediate electro-fishing and netting is necessary.

The use of poison, which has been used in the Chicago canal, at this point would be very hazardous because it has the potential to kill the approximately 4,500 fish in the Lake Calumet, which represent at least 26 species.

As we look at the importance of preserving and protecting the health and beauty of the Great Lakes, we also see an economy that is directly connected to our stewardship: A thriving $7 billion Great Lakes fishery and $11 billion boating industry, and the tens of thousands of associated jobs. We have an obligation to do whatever we can to prevent these cockroach-like fish from entering our Lakes.

Andy Buchsbaum, director of the Great Lakes Office of the National Wildlife Federation, is an expert on this issue. Andy joined WEMU Morning Host David Fair and me on Friday for a conversation about the threat of the Asian carp. A link to the audio will be posted here when it's available.

--- Image credit: USGS.