Posts tagged ‘Asian Carp’
The past two months have been filled with ever-changing news and information on the threat of Asian Carp to the Great Lakes as federal and state officials wrestle over the best solutions. Most of the debate has centered on immediate closure of navigational locks in the Chicago River system (aka “The Chicago Carp Canal”), which are considered the last obstacle separating Asian Carp from the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes. With the exception of Illinois, Great Lakes states and the Canadian Province of Ontario have been fighting to close the locks until a long-term solution can be established. Major resistance on this solution has come from the White House, Illinois, and the Chicago shipping industry.
Asian Carp. Photo by Kate Gardiner, Copyright 2009.
On Monday of this week, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm attended a White House “Carp Summit,” which was scheduled to open dialogue between Great Lakes governors and Obama administration officials. The result however revealed only that the federal government is willing to spend $78 million on studies, flood control, and expansion of status quo preventative measures. Instead of blocking off Lake Michigan from the Chicago River system, the White House revealed plans that would close the locks for three to four days per week. Unless $78 million is being spent on research to train Asian Carp when to swim upstream, this plan reveals that the federal government is content with throwing money at the problem in an attempt to passify political upheaval without making the right decision.
Aside from the disappointing solutions proposed by the executive branch of the federal government, Congress also took a look at the Asian Carp issue this week. The Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee to the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure held a hearing on February 9 on the issue, which we’re hopeful will lead to tougher Congressional action. MUCC submitted testimony along with fellow Michigan sporting and conservation groups urging the Subcommittee to take action on immediate and long term preventative measures, including the CARP ACT legislation introduced by U.S. Representative Dave Camp and U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow. Watch the recorded hearing online.
On the legal side, last week, Attorney General Mike Cox announced the filing of a renewed motion with the U.S. Supreme Court that seeks to close the Chicago locks. The Supreme Court already denied the original motion in January, but issued its ruling a few hours before new evidence revealed that Asian Carp eDNA was discovered in Lake Michigan. Michigan also has a petition pending in front of the Court to re-open the 1929 “Water Diversion Case” of Wisconsin v. Illinois, which seeks the appointment of a “special master” to oversee implementation of a long-term solution to the Asian Carp Problem. Illinois and the Obama administration have until February 19th to submit briefs on this petition.
Last, but not least, MUCC has been busy gearing up for the annual “Great Lakes Days” in Washington, D.C. on February 23-24, where we’ll talk to members of Congress about the Asian Carp issue as well as other funding and legislative items that could benefit the Great Lakes and its $7 billion sportfishery.
Visit an Asian Carp public meeting near you!
International Joint Commission Public Meeting on Asian Carp
The meeting also will be available via live web stream at: http://epa.gov/greatlakes/live. Those who cannot attend the meeting in person can submit questions on the Web site. When available, the framework and a transcript of the meeting will be posted on http://www.asiancarp.org/regionalcoordination. Comments on the framework may also be submitted online at the above website.
What
To discuss plans and get recommendations on Asian carp control efforts.
Who
Senior Representatives from the International Joint Commission, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard, Great Lakes states, provinces, municipalities and tribes (invited), White House Council on Environmental Quality, and Scientific experts.
When
3:00 – 6:00 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Where
Marriott Ann Arbor Ypsilanti at Eagle Crest, 1275 S. Huron, Ypsilanti, MI 48197
Other
Town Hall Meetings hosted by Attorney General Mike Cox and Michigan Members of Congress.
- Traverse City: Feb. 17, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy
- St. Joseph: Feb. 18, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. at the St. Joseph Public Library
- Grand Rapids: Feb. 22, 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. at the Gerald Ford Museum Auditorium
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The Traverse City Chamber of Commerce Weighs-In on the Threat of Asian Carp in the Great Lakes
I was pleased to get the following from Doug Luciani, of the Traverse City Chamber of Commerce. It is good to see the business community get behind this issue, as they absolutely should:
- Imagine a trip to the Manitou Islands while dodging 50-pound flying fish.
- Imagine your favorite fishing hole as a barren, fish-free dead zone.
- Imagine the elimination of thousands of fishery jobs and the evaporation of a $7 billion industry in a time when Michigan cannot afford further attrition.
- Sign the online petition to close the locks at www.stopasiancarp.com.
- Attend rallies, such as the one being held at the Traverse City Fish Ladder on Saturday, Feb. 6, at 11 a.m. to encourage Federal action to close the locks in Chicago to prevent the destruction of the Great Lakes ecology and $7 billion fishery economy.
By now the news is widespread — Asian carp pose a serious threat to the Great Lakes as an Über-invasive species. Despite knowing about the seriousness of the threat and the fact that the invasive species has been ranging closer and closer to the Great Lakes watershed, little has been done in recent years to stem the growing danger to the Great Lakes bioregion.
Asian Carp at the Shedd Aquarium
The Free Press reports today that Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox has filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its decision to keep open the Chicago-area shipping locks that separate the Mississippi basin from the Southern end of Lake Michigan. Cox’s argument is that elements of the government knew about the discovery of Asian carp genetic material in Lake Michigan three days before the high court’s ruling, but that this information was not made available to the court in time for their decision.
The latest bit of bad news, however, takes the form of word that researchers have found evidence of another sportfish-killer — viral hemorrhagic septicemia virus, or VHSV, in Lake Superior. Medill Reports in Chicago carries the story. The article states that, “the discovery means the disease is now documented in all of the Great Lakes and could be reaching epidemic proportions in Lake Michigan.”
“‘There’s a chance that this virus could cause traumatic mortalities,’ said Paul Bowser, professor of aquatic animal medicine and the study’s lead investigator. ‘In the very onset there will be a lot of hosts, and many [fish] are going to die, which is likely to have a severe environmental impact.’”
The virus is fairly easy to spread, which accounts for the rapidness with which it has moved from watershed-to-watershed. And because it is easy to spread, it is important for anglers and boat owners to take appropriate precautions against inadvertently assisting in spreading the virus to unaffected areas. Bowser adds that it is important to not “move fish from one body of water to another, and [to] wash your boats thoroughly after removing them from a lake … Everyone’s going to have to play a part in limiting the spread of this thing.”
