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Battle against Asian carp continues
A worker from Illinois Marine Towing keeps watch from the deck of the Windy City as it pushes a barge into downtown in Chicago, Ill.
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by Tony Arnold
Good old-fashion nets haven't stopped the fish. Neither have electrical barriers submerged in water. So today -- for the second time -- the Illinois Department of Natural Resources will dump chemicals into an Illinois river that should kill all fish in a 2-mile stretch.
"We need this important information to find out what the population is and how big of a problem it may or may not be," says Chris McCloud, a spokesman for the department.
The worry is the carp will take over Lake Michigan -- and beyond. The fish has caused a battle between Illinois and other Great Lakes states that fear the carp would ruin the region's roughly $7 billion sport fishing industry.
Joy Yearout is with Michigan's Attorney General office. She says today's chemical dump doesn't go far enough.
"It's good, but it's not comprehensive. There are so many more basic, short-term steps that we could be taking to address Asian carp," says Yearout.
Michigan's attorney general has tried to force Illinois to close waterways leading into Lake Michigan. But Chicago business groups say if that happens -- it would halt billions of dollars of goods now shipped on the waterways.
The asian carp could be avery good sorce of income if the comercial fishing industery could get some help from the goverment or state they don't need to be killed of the state did not find but one asian carp in ther fish kill of the chicago river the fisherman new their were no asian carp becase no food they eat is that for north......
ASIAN CARP SOLUTION
The great mid-American system of rivers and lakes hold the native fish species genomes which must be preserved. These native fish are under heavy attack from the invasive Asian Carp. Thus far, I have discovered nothing on the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) website which suggests USFWS is taking action on a basin-wide basis to effect a solution. USFWS is not alone in this state of lack of action concerning the invasive carp. True, some Great Lakes states have tried to shut down the hydro-connection between the Great Lakes and the Upper Mississippi River Basin, but to no avail. Some experimental fish kills have taken place which prove little. Electric barriers are in use, hoping that the DC current will prevent migration between the two bodies of water.
The suggestion has been made that because the Asian Carp invasion affects the Mississippi River basin, that the solution should be basin-wide. As of now, this suggestion has not taken root among the NPO's, state and federal governments of USA and Canada. (MISSISSIPPI INTERSTATE COOPERATIVE RESOURCE ASSOCIATION
Summary of Permit Authority and Prohibited Species by State With Special Emphasis on Asian Carp, http://www.asiancarp.org/Regulations/ansregus%20MRB.pdf) While the debate, science experiments and turf battles rage, the Silver and Bighead continue to gorge themselves on zooplankton and phytoplankton and happily continue to reproduce, adding greater stress to the native fish population.
The only recommendation of practical substance for a solution is the removal of the adult Asian carp population. (Asian carps biological synopsis andenvironmental risk assessment; http://www.fws.gov/contaminants/OtherDocuments/ACBSRAFinalReport2005.pdf)
The U. S. Fish and Wildlife service is so heavily impacted by its duties under the several protection acts, by litigation, by demands from Congress and/or the Executive, that it is basically not able to respond quickly and deftly to the Asian Carp invasion solution. The job of putting together a Mississippi River Basin-wide solution should fall to NFWF which has an outstanding staff of scientists and grant administrators. It has proven, many times, it is capable of working with multi-agencies and NPO to effect a solution in a timely manner.
The National Fish and Wildlife Foundation is probably best positioned to exert leadership toward a basin-wide solution or solutions. Time is of the essence. Whitehouse leadership, while present, has not been stunningly successful. Congressional leadership is more talk than walk. Other NGOs, while earnest, have not the talent nor the availability of funding to act swiftly and basin-wide, as does NFWF.
You would likely ask me, “Well, Miller, what is your solution?†My response is the Carp Catchers Cooperative three vessel, commercial carp harvesting fleet. The Carp Avenger catches the live fish, sorts and returns the native fish via water slide tubes to the river, unharmed, and sends the carp to processing. The Carpe Carpae is the fish factory which process the fish for human consumption, uses the extracted the fish oil for biodiesel and for sale into the health food stores, and creates high nutrient fish meal for animal feed and other uses. The crew lives aboard a flotel, the Carp Ark. All three vessels are hooked together much like rail cars and travel as a unit, thus allowing the crew to walk between home and work.
More detail about this solution is found by visiting: Carp Catchers Cooperative: http://carpcatchersco-op.wetpaint.com/
Please urge the Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment and the full House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure to join with other agencies, NGOs and private firms and individuals, to place NFWF in the driver's seat and get the business plan on paper and the funding to support it in the very near term – weeks or a couple of months, not years.
Sincerely yours,
James E. Miller, BA, BS, JD
jimmiller5417@yahoo.com
