by Emily Green
Monster fish devastating local rivers and lakes. That is a headline that none of us in the Great Lakes region wants to see, but it is what may be in store if Asian carp establish breeding populations in the Great Lakes ecosystem. They are currently on the doorstep of the lakes, and their entry could cause significant ecological damage and forever change our use and enjoyment of the lakes and their tributaries.
A live Asian carp was recently found 6 miles from Lake Michigan in the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal, beyond the electronic barriers that were intended to be the last line of defense. These invasive fish are very close to the Great Lakes. It is critical that we move as quickly as possible to sever the artificial connection between the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes and permanently separate these two ecosystems.
Asian carp were imported to the U.S. decades ago for aquaculture purposes, but escaped into the lower Mississippi River during floods and are now well established in the Mississippi, Illinois, and Ohio river systems. They are highly efficient filter feeders, capable of eating 20 percent of their body weight in plankton each day. They can grow to be more than 100 pounds and, once established, can outcompete native fish for food at the base of the food web, leading to crashes in forage and sport fish populations. In some areas of the Illinois and Ohio river systems, Asian carp comprise more than 95 percent of the biomass.
In addition, the carp are easily startled by the noise of boat motors, causing them to leap out of the water. Boaters have suffered serious injury, including broken bones, due to flying carp-this has virtually eliminated recreational boating, water-skiing, wakeboarding, and jet-skiing on sections of river where the carp are abundant. A biologist working on the waterway commented: You may imagine it would be quite novel for a 20-pound fish to jump into your boat, but being hit by a large Asian carp would be similar to being hit by a bowling ball. Even if the fish don’t hit you, they can break fishing rods, windshields, electronics or anything else in your boat. As if adding insult, the carp will leave slime, blood and excrement on everything it touches. (From www.asiancarp.org, the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee’s official response site, and an excellent source of additional background information on the carp.)
We must act now to address this threat. Despite the fact that Asian carp are on the doorstep of the Great Lakes, the pace of action has been far too slow. In 2007, Congress directed the Army Corps to figure out how to separate the Great Lakes and Mississippi River ecosystems in order to prevent the transfer of the Asian carp and other species. But the Corps has not even released its study plan and has said that its full analysis will take significantly longer than the initial goal of 2012.
Please urge President Obama to appoint a federal incident commander to coordinate the federal response, ensure accountability, and hasten action. And ask the President to direct the Corps to complete the separation analysis by 2012. We cannot afford to wait, putting the entire Great Lakes ecosystem, its $7 billion recreational, commercial and tribal fishing industry, and our way of life at risk. Please visitwww.sierraclub.org/greatlakes to send your comments to the White House.