Post by yihunt on Jul 22, 2010 14:11:57 GMT -4
Pa., four other states sue to keep Asian carp out of Great Lakes
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
By Lindsay Carroll, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
M. Spencer Green/Associated PressAsian bighead carpAn aggressive fish is causing a feud between two economic powerhouses -- the Great Lakes fishing and boating industry and Chicago waterway commerce. And now, Pennsylvania is hooked.
Pennsylvania joined four other Great Lakes states in filing a lawsuit Monday against the federal government and a Chicago water authority. They hope to keep Asian carp, an invasive species of fish that has been found in the Mississippi River, out of Lake Michigan.
Pennsylvania worries that if the carp gets into Lake Michigan, it will eventually migrate to Lake Erie and devastate the fishing and boating industries there.
"This is an ecological threat that needs to be dealt with now," said Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for state Attorney General Tom Corbett.
Two types of Asian carp, bighead and silver carp, overpopulate the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Private farmers and federal agencies brought the fish to the U.S. from Asia in the 1970s to clean out ponds, but the fish escaped when the Mississippi flooded in the early 1990s, causing a so-called "Asian carp invasion."
The fish grow to 110 pounds and eat so much at the bottom of the food chain that other fish can't compete. They reproduce quickly and dominate their ecosystems, making up 90 percent of the mass of organisms in some areas.
"They're really hard to control," said Katherine Glassner-Shwayder, senior project coordinator for the Great Lakes Commission in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Asian carp also threaten the recreational boating industry. Silver carp get scared and jump out of the water when boats pass. Boaters have had cuts, bruises, concussions and broken bones because they've been hit by carp.
For almost a decade, the Great Lakes states have tried to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan. In 2002, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an electric barrier in the Chicago water system to keep the fish from entering.
But in the past year, Asian carp DNA and a few live fish have been found past the electric barrier, raising fears that it's not working.
The lawsuit was filed by Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Chicago authority declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The suit asks for a court order to increase their efforts to block the Asian carp, including temporarily closing some of the locks in the Chicago waterway system and installing nets and screens over gate openings.
Pennsylvania has been involved with other legal action, led by Michigan, to pressure Illinois to shut down the Chicago locks, but the U.S. Supreme Court twice rejected those cases.
Shutting down the locks threatens Chicago commerce, said Mark Biel, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois. The council started another organization, UnLock Our Jobs, which has lobbied against shutting down the locks in Chicago.
Mr. Biel said shutting down the locks would devastate the city's water management and companies that rely on barge transport.
"The closure of the locks takes away their competitive advantage in the marketplace," Mr. Biel said, calling the states' lawsuit "political grandstanding."
Chuck Murray, a fisheries biologist with the state Fish and Boat Commission's Lake Erie Research Unit, said if Asian carp get into the Great Lakes, they will affect $7 billion in annual commerce in seven states and Ontario.
"All of these states are looking at Illinois and saying, 'Look, you have to do what you can,' " Mr. Murray said.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
By Lindsay Carroll, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
M. Spencer Green/Associated PressAsian bighead carpAn aggressive fish is causing a feud between two economic powerhouses -- the Great Lakes fishing and boating industry and Chicago waterway commerce. And now, Pennsylvania is hooked.
Pennsylvania joined four other Great Lakes states in filing a lawsuit Monday against the federal government and a Chicago water authority. They hope to keep Asian carp, an invasive species of fish that has been found in the Mississippi River, out of Lake Michigan.
Pennsylvania worries that if the carp gets into Lake Michigan, it will eventually migrate to Lake Erie and devastate the fishing and boating industries there.
"This is an ecological threat that needs to be dealt with now," said Nils Frederiksen, spokesman for state Attorney General Tom Corbett.
Two types of Asian carp, bighead and silver carp, overpopulate the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Private farmers and federal agencies brought the fish to the U.S. from Asia in the 1970s to clean out ponds, but the fish escaped when the Mississippi flooded in the early 1990s, causing a so-called "Asian carp invasion."
The fish grow to 110 pounds and eat so much at the bottom of the food chain that other fish can't compete. They reproduce quickly and dominate their ecosystems, making up 90 percent of the mass of organisms in some areas.
"They're really hard to control," said Katherine Glassner-Shwayder, senior project coordinator for the Great Lakes Commission in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Asian carp also threaten the recreational boating industry. Silver carp get scared and jump out of the water when boats pass. Boaters have had cuts, bruises, concussions and broken bones because they've been hit by carp.
For almost a decade, the Great Lakes states have tried to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan. In 2002, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an electric barrier in the Chicago water system to keep the fish from entering.
But in the past year, Asian carp DNA and a few live fish have been found past the electric barrier, raising fears that it's not working.
The lawsuit was filed by Pennsylvania, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Ohio against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.
The Army Corps of Engineers and the Chicago authority declined to comment on the lawsuit.
The suit asks for a court order to increase their efforts to block the Asian carp, including temporarily closing some of the locks in the Chicago waterway system and installing nets and screens over gate openings.
Pennsylvania has been involved with other legal action, led by Michigan, to pressure Illinois to shut down the Chicago locks, but the U.S. Supreme Court twice rejected those cases.
Shutting down the locks threatens Chicago commerce, said Mark Biel, executive director of the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois. The council started another organization, UnLock Our Jobs, which has lobbied against shutting down the locks in Chicago.
Mr. Biel said shutting down the locks would devastate the city's water management and companies that rely on barge transport.
"The closure of the locks takes away their competitive advantage in the marketplace," Mr. Biel said, calling the states' lawsuit "political grandstanding."
Chuck Murray, a fisheries biologist with the state Fish and Boat Commission's Lake Erie Research Unit, said if Asian carp get into the Great Lakes, they will affect $7 billion in annual commerce in seven states and Ontario.
"All of these states are looking at Illinois and saying, 'Look, you have to do what you can,' " Mr. Murray said.