Trump’s Memorandum Fast-Tracks Project to Keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes

Michigan’s Democratic governor touts the bipartisan effort to erect barriers to protect the Great Lakes’ native species as well as recreation and tourism.

Workers with the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee dump a chemical into the Little Calumet River to kill all of the fish in a two-mile stretch of the river on May 20, 2010, in Chicago. Scott Olson/Getty Images

President Donald Trump signed a memorandum on Friday to expedite the construction of a system of barriers to stop the migration of Asian carp into the Great Lakes Basin.

For years, the large fish, which can weigh more than 100 pounds, have been steadily making their way north from the southeastern United States through streams, rivers, and lakes, according to a fact sheet summarizing the memorandum.