Fight Over Asian Carp Heating Up

Workers with the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee, dump a chemical into the Little Calumet River to kill all of the fish in an approximately two-mile stretch of the river May, 2010, in Chicago. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

While the issue of stopping the large-mouth, super aggressive Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes has been in and out of court, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette could wait no longer for the Army Corps of Engineers. He announced Sept. 26 that a newly formed 17-state coalition sent a letter to Congress calling for them to create legislation to force a quicker resolution to the problem.

“These states understand that the job-killing invasive species flowing freely though the wide-open doorway in Chicago must be stopped now. We are turning up the heat on federal officials dragging their feet at our expense. It is too bad we need legislation to do this, but it is time for the Army Corps of Engineers to get to work,” Schuette said in a news release.

In the letter, the coalition wants to slash three years off the deadline for the Army Corps of Engineers’ study on the problem. The study’s current due date is 2015, and the coalition wants to move this up, to 2012. The group is also calling on the president to directly appoint someone to oversee the study so it is done in a timely manner.

Among the states composing of the coalition are: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri, but there are also states not in the Midwest, such as Colorado, Utah, New York, and Wyoming.

A 20-pound Asian carp was caught just six miles from Lake Michigan last year, creating concerns whether the experimental electric barrier designed to keep the invasive fish out really works. The Asian carp now runs amuck in the Illinois River, and because it is so large and can jump as high as 10 feet out of the water when boats pass, it has caused serious injuries to boaters and water skiers.

Officials believe that if the fish gets into the Great Lakes if could starve and crowd out native species, destroying a $7 billion dollar industry. The Asian carp competes with native commercial fish for food, and has the potential of disrupting the entire ecosystem.

The state of Michigan has sued Illinois and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to close shipping locks near Chicago, as they believe it is a vulnerable area where the Asian carp can get through.

The canal, built more than a century ago, links the Mississippi to the Great Lakes, but now helps carry sewage away from Chicago and Michigan. Controversy about closing the locks raises economic concerns for the Chicago area.