Michigan Lawmaker Wants Action on Asian Carp Issue
Kevin Elsenheimer, Republican Leader in the Michigan House, wants a Northern Michigan summit on the invasive Asian carp, a fish many believe poses an environmental and economic threat to the entire Great Lakes ecosystem.
What to do, what to do against the invasive Asian carp will be the focus of the summit.
Everyone with a financial stake in the health of the Great Lakes should have an interest in this issue.
“All the states and Canadian provinces in the Great Lakes Basin stand to lose out in their economies, their quality of life, the loss of existing natural resources and ecosystems if the Asian carp is not stopped soon,” Elsenheimer said in a statement. “The cooperative agreements we have worked on for years to share the Great Lakes resources and their protection will be for naught. And the Great Lakes legacy that has been passed down from generation to generation will stop today unless we join together against this threat.”
The U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling against Michigan’s attempt to get the state of Illinois and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to immediately close the shipping canal increases the opportunity for the carp to get into the Great Lakes before all of the political haggling settles.
If you think action needs to be taken against the Asian carp contact your state congressman. Or contact Kevin Elsenheimer.
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The Great Lakes are under assault from foreign invaders according to Jennifer McKay, policy specialist with Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council in Petoskey.
“In the Great Lakes, we have never been able to eradicate an aquatic invasive species,” McKay told nearly 20 attendees. “Prevention is the most protective and cost-effective way to prevent damage to the Great Lakes.”
An electrical barrier installed at the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal is the only barrier to Asian carp entering the Great Lakes. However, in November 2009, results tested positive for the presence of Asian carp beyond the barrier, six miles from Lake Michigan. In December, one Asian carp (bighead) was found when a portion of the river was poisoned to allow the electrical barrier to be shut down for maintenance and on Dec. 8, two eDNA samples tested positive in Lake Michigan, both for silver carp.
“That’s the first positive sample for Asian carp found in Lake Michigan,” she said. “This could be the future of the Great Lakes.”
On February 1, Petoskey City Council members decided to back Michigan’s attorney general and congressional delegation as they seek to block Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.