Senate action against Asian carp lauded as vital for fight

Bighead Asian carp, the species of these at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, have moved toward Lake Michigan by a series of natural and man-madewaterways. Enlarge

Tons of poisons, organized trapping efforts, the mighty current of the Mississippi River, and one of North America's largest electrical barriers haven't kept the highly destructive Asian carp from encroaching upon the Great Lakes region's $7 billion fishery, which is anchored in western Lake Erie between Monroe and Sandusky.

Will an act of Congress?

The U.S. Senate's unanimous passage last week of the Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act is being hailed by area lawmakers as yet another important part of the region's arsenal as it tries to protect native walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, and other sportfish from a deadly onslaught.

The House is expected to take up the legislation soon. It would make the bighead species of Asian carp as much of an illegal alien as its silver carp kinfolk under a 110-year-old federal law known as the Lacey Act.

U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert (R., Ill.) has a companion bill pending in the House Judiciary Committee's subcommittee on crime, terrorism, and homeland security.

The final legislation is subject to approval by President Obama.

The Lacey Act is rarely invoked because the government, in effect, is being asked to blacklist something by declaring it too destructive to be brought into the United States, officials have said.

Although problems with four species of Asian carp have been known for years, it wasn't until 2007 that the Lacey Act was invoked for silver carp - the species of Asian carp so sensitive to vibrations of boat motors that it leaps out of the water, capable of smacking boaters with the force of an airborne bowling ball.

The ban against silver carp started with a petition several congressmen submitted to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2002.

Review took five years.

Silver carp are huge themselves, but the largest and most destructive is the bighead. It is capable of growing up to 6 feet long and weighing 110 pounds. Officials have said that it consumes as much as 40 percent of its body weight a day in plankton, a vital component of the food chain that supports all other fish.

"Lake Erie is a national treasure and an irreplaceable resource for millions of Ohioans who rely on it for jobs, drinking water, fishing, and boating. Asian carp continue to pose a threat to this jewel of the Great Lakes and one of the most important fresh water fisheries in the world," U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said.

U.S. Sen. George Voinovich (R., Ohio), co-chairman of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force with U.S. Sen. Carl Levin (D., Mich.), said the legislation should send a message throughout the country that the lakes need more protection from invasive species.

"We have worked hard to revitalize the Lakes and these foreign species are a serious threat to the native fish population, the ecosystem, and the fishing and boating community," he said.

Mr. Levin, author of the bill, said Asian carp "pose a real, clear, and growing threat to the Great Lakes."

"The devastating effects Asian carp could have on the Great Lakes are not fully known, and I want to make sure they are never realized," he said.

Michigan's other U.S. senator, Democrat Debbie Stabenow, said that establishing an effective blockade against Asian carp and other exotics "is vital to our economy and the preservation of one of the world's most valuable resources."

Chicago and Fort Wayne, Ind., are considered the two existing pathways.

The bighead and silver carp species have been swimming up the Mississippi River since escaping southern fish hatcheries years ago. They have moved eastward toward Lake Michigan via a series of natural and man-made waterways that connect it to the Mississippi.

DNA evidence shows carp have eluded a multimillion-dollar electrical barrier the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built 20 miles southwest of Chicago to fend off the carp and other invasive species.

Asian carp also have gone from the Mississippi to the Wabash River. In Fort Wayne, the Wabash shares a floodplain with the Maumee River, making it conceivable that Asian carp could get into the Maumee under high-water conditions.

Contact Tom Henry at:

thenry@theblade.com

or 419-724-6079.