Michigan loses another battle in the war against Asian Carp

As we go about our business in these middle days of March, the Asian carp are still in the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers, making their way ever closer to Lake Michigan. Carp don't care about the posturing in the U.S. Capitol; they don't care about the controversy surrounding the efficacy of the electronic barriers or the proposed closing of the locks. They are indifferent to Illinois’ barge and passenger boat industry. They don't even care about the highest court in the land: the US Supreme Court. They are on the move and the threat to the $7.5 billion Great Lakes Fishing industry (along with the 800,000 jobs the industry supports) doesn't seem to matter.

But, the citizens of the Great Lakes care, notably those in Michigan with the most Great Lakes coastline (over 3,000 miles) and the most to lose if these fish get in. The Supreme Court decision today, to again reject Michigan’s request for an injunction to immediately close two locks in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship canal, is not at all what we wanted to hear. The Court did not elaborate on their decision, leaving the Great Lakes, and the Michiganders who love and depend on them, facing a still uncertain future.