Canadian agency associates bleak outlook with Asian carp threat to Great Lakes

7/12/2012
BY MATT MARKEY
BLADE OUTDOORS EDITOR

A study released today by Fisheries and Oceans Canada paints a very grim picture of the threat posed to the Great Lakes by invasive Asian carp, and says that the likelihood of the fish entering the Great Lakes is “very high”.

The study, titled “Binational Ecological Risk Assessment of Bigheaded Carps for the Great Lakes Basin” concluded that the presence of as few as 10 females and 10 or fewer male Asian carp would be enough to allow the fish to reproduce in any of the Great Lakes.

It also said the carp are likely to spread to all five of the Great Lakes if they enter the waterway, and would cause a significant disruption to the native fishery and the ecosystem of the lakes.

The report also cast the Chicago canal system as the likely point of entry for the fish into the Great Lakes, with a “very high” probability of that occurring.