IS THIS THE END OF OUR FISHERY?

[steelhd1]

Asian carp may have breached barrier
By Dan Egan of the Journal Sentinel

Posted: Nov. 19, 2009

The decade-old battle to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes might be over.

New research shows the fish likely have made it past the $9 million electric fish barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a source familiar with the situation told the Journal Sentinel late Thursday.

The barrier is considered the last chance to stop the super-sized fish that can upend entire ecosystems, and recent environmental DNA tests showed that the carp had advanced to within a mile of the barrier.

That research backed the federal government into a desperate situation because the barrier must be turned off within a couple of weeks for regular maintenance. The plan is to spend some $1.5 million to temporarily poison the canal so the maintenance work can be done.

But even as those plans are being finalized the news everyone dreaded came: It might be too late.

Now the only thing left standing between the fish and Lake Michigan is a heavily used navigational lock.

Army Corps officials declined to comment on the situation.

"I am not prepared to discuss this today, but I will be prepared to discuss this tomorrow," Col. Vincent Quarles, commander of the Chicago District of the Army Corps of Engineers, said when asked about news that the fish had breached the barrier.

The Army Corps, along with its state and federal partners in the barrier's design and operation, has scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Friday.

The fish that can grow to 50 pounds or more are a big deal because they are voracious feeders, overwhelming native species, and they pose a huge hazard to recreational boaters because of their habit of jumping out of the water when agitated by the whir of a boat motor.

No fish have been found, but a new type of DNA testing that can show the presence of fish in the water shows that the barrier does not appear to have worked at stopping all the fish.

"We've got some bad problems," Dan Thomas, president of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, said when told the news.

Thomas said the plan to poison the canal is going to have to grow to cover areas above the barrier, which is about 20 miles downstream from the Lake Michigan shoreline.

"Unless we treat that canal real quick as far up as we can, then we can almost be assured that they're on their way into the lake," he said.

For several years, the northern migration of the silver carp had stalled in a pool just above the Dresden Island Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River southwest of Joliet, Ill. - about 20 miles downstream from the barrier.

In August, the Journal Sentinel learned the environmental DNA testing that biologists had quietly begun using on the canal revealed that the fish had started to move again. It's been all hands on deck ever since.

In addition to plans to poison the river, the Army Corps is scrambling to build a twin to the new barrier. It also is looking at building an emergency berm to prevent the fish from riding floodwaters from the carp-infested Des Plaines River into the canal above the barrier.

The two species of Asian carp threatening to invade Lake Michigan are silver and bighead carp. It's not known which species - or whether both species - have been detected above the barrier with DNA tests.

Silver carp are considered the bigger threat to the economy, ecology and culture of the Great Lakes because of their penchant for leaping out of the water and injuring boaters.

Silver carp were imported to Arkansas in the 1960s where they were used in federally funded sewage treatment experiments.

They escaped their containment ponds soon thereafter and have been swimming north since.







Find this article at:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/70573047.html

I have worried about this coming...

[Fishndude]

The ONLY real solution is to fill in the canal. Completely and permanently. Until that is done, it is aparent that the powers that be apparently want those fish in the Great Lakes.

[trekker]

what a bummer

[younmatt]

Yet another potential EPIC blow to Michigan's economy if these things invade our lakes. If our fisheries go what will this state have left? It makes me sooo sick to think about these things destroying our rivers and Great Lakes.

I really want to go down to Chicago right now and pour as much bleach or poison as I can in that river to kill as many of those carp as I can!
Then I'll drive down to Arkansas and have a "nice chat" with the folks who introduced them down there.

I can't bear the thought of swinging flies for steelhead now. I just want to cradle them now and say "I gonna miss you guys." I just hope to God that something can be done about them getting into Lake Michigan, I just hope to God. . The Detroit Lions be damned...THIS COULD REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY SUCK!

[younmatt]

Yet another potential EPIC blow to Michigan's economy if these things invade our lakes. If our fisheries go what will this state have left? It makes me sooo sick to think about these things destroying our rivers and Great Lakes.

I really want to go down to Chicago right now and pour as much bleach or poison as I can in that river to kill as many of those carp as I can!
Then I'll drive down to Arkansas and have a "nice chat" with the folks who introduced them down there.

I can't bear the thought of swinging flies for steelhead now. I just want to cradle them now and say "I gonna miss you guys." I just hope to God that something can be done about them getting into Lake Michigan, I just hope to God. . The Detroit Lions be damned...THIS COULD REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY SUCK!

[younmatt]

you're 100% right

[salmon_slayer06]

I don't think Lake Superior will affected by this.

Biggest impact will be on Lake St. Clair and its tribs, LAke Erie, Lake Ontario, LAke Michigan than Huron with Superior being last. Seems Clair and Eries conditions will be ideal for these carp to flourish. Lake St. Clair has a good predator system and I think seeing 60 and 70 pound muskie that been feasting on these new fish isn't far fetched.

[steelhd1]

Just read the Free Press today and they indeed did confirm that Superior is too cold to sustain these carp. They however did say that they are not too optimistic about the future with this invassive species

[Joshua]

The ONLY real solution is to fill in the canal. Completely and permanently. Until that is done, it is aparent that the powers that be apparently want those fish in the Great Lakes.

You said it right, lets all get our shovels head down and start filling it, it will be a shame if these fish occupy our rivers like they have the Mississippi and other tributaries.
If it happens I guess I will have to trade my fishing poles for my carp bow to get outdoors .

[Husky Jerk]

Just read the Free Press today and they indeed did confirm that Superior is too cold to sustain these carp. They however did say that they are not too optimistic about the future with this invassive species

I believe that the colder temperatures are exactly why they are so worried about these fish invading the great lakes. And from what I understand Superior will also see these fish, unfortunately it's going to screw everything up everywhere.

http://www.freep.com/article/20091120/N ... r-for-lake

watch the video in this article, it is a 2 part video about 13 minutes combined and it will indicate what is to be if these bastards get a foot hold in the great lakes. The fisheries biologist guy is the same one claiming that these flying fish love cold water...check it out

[cully]

it's over,,,,,,there is going to be so much red tape through the bureaucratic b.s. ....... we will never learn.....it should never even be @ this point..........makes me sick......anytime there is a government
agency involved, oh well you know the rest......they need to get some commercial boys in there to figure out how to decimate these fish...........they'll figure out how to reduce the populations......they need to be allowed to help solve the problem.....fisherman, biologists need to be given free range and the funding now.....no thinking about it....no talking.....just action.......this needs to be an open forum for commercial fisherman and biologists to get @ it .......wipe these things out no matter the cost......get em stopped then wipe em out...........

[Joshua]

I read in the Grand Rapids Press that they were going to treat the upper section of stream with something that pulls the oxygen out of the water and then take al the fish to a landfill.
What I read implied that this was going to occur in the next week or two, hopefully it is not too late.

[nighttime]

The people must come together and get to the media to continue coverage and make it a bigger deal than what they have. A 20 second story every once a year is not going to do it. It's to bad the president doesn't fish the great lakes, then maybe there would be some urgent action taken. If I was a guide I would contact the white house and give a free guided trip on a couple different parts of the lakes and rivers to show him how great it is, then take him on boat and show him the carp!

[steelmaster]

Ironically Japan fisherman can't stand largemouth bass! (Article in Bassin magazine) It is against the law in Japan to throw back bass. They are ruining the carp fishing.

I wonder if the Kings and coho will eat them! Maybe the perch and alewife will eat them too.

I believe nature will take care of itself. I heard there are bull sharks entering the system on the Discovery channel.

I am concerned, hopefully the Indian nets will take care of them! Those fish have to be good or something!

[REG]

Ironically Japan fisherman can't stand largemouth bass! (Article in Bassin magazine) It is against the law in Japan to throw back bass. They are ruining the carp fishing.

I wonder if the Kings and coho will eat them! Maybe the perch and alewife will eat them too.

I believe nature will take care of itself. I heard there are bull sharks entering the system on the Discovery channel.

I am concerned, hopefully the Indian nets will take care of them! Those fish have to be good or something!

Actually, the Asian carp have decimated what was once a fairly vibrant commercial fishery on the Illinois River. Previous to the invasion by Asian carp, the commerical quarry was primarily buffalo (the fish). Since Asian carp, the amount of buffalo available has dropped precipitously.