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Editorial Note
The Asian carp threat to the ecology and biodiversity of our waterways has been known for over a decade. Today, depending on whose report you believe, Asian carp are 15, 25 or 45 miles away form the Great Lakes. While the red tape unravels between all the officials involved, the electric barrier designed to stop this Carp army from laying siege to the Great Lakes has just recently been activated. But then, only at one fourth its capacity to ensure that no other issues arise from its use. It is believed that, at such a reduced voltage, young carp will not be deterred. In our view, it is safe to assume that the battle is lost, years of work groups and management teams having produced more reports than concrete measures.
Asian Carp - The Problem
Four species of Asian carp - the grass carp, bighead carp, silver carp and black carp - have been imported into the United States for use in aquaculture, and for the biological control of aquatic vegetation and parasites. Although all species were brought in for culture, and often triploid or sterile strains were developed and maintained, all four species have escaped into the wild. Self-sustaining populations of three of these species (grass, bighead and silver carps) have been established, particularly in the Mississippi drainage.
The intentional or accidental release of non-native species into North American waters poses a threat to native species and overall biodiversity. Non-native species can alter habitat, compete with native species for food or habitat, prey upon native species, and act as vectors for new diseases or parasites that could spread to native species. Fisheries and Oceans Canada
An Invasive species
Asian carp are a threat because of their large size, reproductive success, and ability to consume large amounts of food year round, damaging the habitat and disrupting the food web. Because they feed on vegetation and plankton, as well as aquatic insects and native fish larvae, they are in direct competition with native mussels and other fish. Grass carp are known to wipe-out aquatic vegetation in lakes, altering the lake habitat and interfering with the reproduction of other fish. Black carp feed primarily on mussels and snails. They can eat three to four pounds daily, which threatens native mollusk and snail populations as well as mollusk-feeding fish and birds.
Seagrant, Pennsylvania State University
Threat to Great Lakes
The carp have steadily made their way northward up the Mississippi, becoming the most abundant species in some areas of the River. They out-compete native fish, and have caused severe hardship to the people who fish there.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is concerned about the possibility of Asian carps migrating to the Great Lakes. In 2002, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed an electric fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the only aquatic link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River drainage basins.The initial fish barrier was used as a demonstration project to study the design's effectiveness. Following positive results, construction began on a second, permanent barrier in 2004.Wikipedia
The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal was originally built in the 1900s, to link Lake Michigan to the Mississippi system by way of the Des Plaines and Illinois rivers. The purpose was to flush Chicago's sewage southward, rather than into Lake Michigan, which provided drinking water. Today, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal also provides transport and recreational boating, and officials are reluctant to close it.- Fisheries and Oceans Canada
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Chicago Electric Fish Barrier Issues
This article witten by Dan Egan in The Milwakee Journal Sentinel on October 5, 2008, offers a good overview of the issues related to the electric barrier.
"It's supposed to be the last chance to keep the Great Lakes from turning into the Great Carp Ponds, the federal government's new electric fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal is not doing the job.
The $9 million contraption designed to repel the jumbo - and jumping - Asian carp was finished nearly 2 1/2 years ago. It was conceived in a desperate attempt to stop the fish that have already infested the middle of the continent from gobbling their way up a canal that is an artificial link between the Mississippi River basin and the Great Lakes.
The fish are within a two-day swim of Lake Michigan. But federal officials won't permanently activate the barrier until they are convinced the electrified water is safe for the barge operators who make their living pushing things such as coal, sand and gravel along the rail-straight oversized ditch built a century ago to carry away Chicago's toilet water.
They can't say when that will happen.
They can't even say for sure if that will happen.
What they can say is that they need to do more testing, but their work and decisions are being done far from the light of public scrutiny.
The carp, meanwhile, are thriving in the region's rivers by the tens of millions. They can be found about 45 miles downstream from Lake Michigan, squeezing aside native fish populations and ruining rivers for recreation because of their penchant for porpoising out of the water and battering boaters.
The fish have migrated to within 15 miles of the new barrier. The only defense for the Great Lakes for the past several years has been a smaller, weaker "experimental" barrier that has a history of failing and that biologists believe is not strong enough to repel juvenile carp, which, because of their size, are less affected by electrified water.
Some Great Lakes advocates are beyond frustrated with the way the Army Corps of Engineers has handled the project, noting that the ravenous filter-feeders, disparagingly dubbed the "100-pound zebra mussel," could destroy what's left of the lakes' ecological integrity and multibillion-dollar fishing and tourist industries.
Says Chuck Shea, barrier project manager for the Army Corps of Engineers: "I don't have final say on turning it on or off. . . . We've done a great deal of testing over several years and compiled a number of reports that are being reviewed up the chain (of command) in the Corps and the Coast Guard."
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Will it kill a person?
To date nearly $1 million has been spent to examine such things as what would happen if someone tumbles off a barge and into the electrified water in the barrier zone, which covers a half-mile of canal.
According to documents the Journal Sentinel obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. Navy's Experimental Diving Unit was hired to do that job. It took $100,000 and more than a year of computer modeling and analysis, but the Navy has finally reached a conclusion: Similar to falling into icy water, you might be incapacitated and die. Or, you might not.
The Coast Guard is still apparently reviewing the study; it has not been released to the general public.
Another worry is that the electrified water will toss sparks between linked or passing barges, a perilous prospect for those carrying flammable cargoes.
To make matters worse, the barrier was built just upstream from a coal-fired power plant. To keep sparks from flying in the dusty coal loading zone, the Army Corps spent $330,000 two years ago installing a set of energy-sucking metal mats on the canal bottom to keep the electrical current from bleeding into the loading area.
"We believe we've significantly solved the problem," says Shea, of the Army Corps.
But the Coast Guard, which has final say on the matter, isn't convinced. The latest electricity tests in the area around the power plant were completed in April. Now the Coast Guard is considering a batch of additional tests.
Barrier a Band-Aid
Turning the barrier on is actually just the first step in what is going to be a drawn-out fight to keep the carp out of the lakes.
The best it will do is slow the fish down so the federal government can engineer a longer-term solution.
The barrier site, located in a heavily industrialized corner of suburban Chicago, was picked because it sits on a particularly narrow section of canal below where it forks into five separate channels connecting to Lake Michigan. One barrier here can solve the problem for all five upstream waterways.
But there is a big problem with the canal site the Army Corps picked - the Des Plaines River runs parallel to it, only yards away in some places. The Des Plaines flows into the Asian carp-infested Illinois River, and biologists concede that it too will one day fill with the fish. The problem is the canal and the Des Plaines have a history of merging when big floods hit.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Accidental Spread
Even if the electric barrier is successful at stopping Asian carp from entering en masse into the Great Lakes, their spread is far from over. Fishing bait transfered from one water system to the other can easily spread carp inadvertantly.
A United States Fish and Wildlife brochure outlines measures fishermen should take to help protect water systems biodiversity.
"Consult your
local, state, and federal conservation authorities as to
the threat of non-native species in your area, and to the
laws and regulations governing the importation,
culture, maintenance, and stocking of non-native
species. Utilize care in the purchase and use of baitfish
in lakes and streams. Ask your bait dealers where their
baitfish came from, and never release any unused
baitfish to the wild; always destroy them or return them
to your bait dealer. Learn and understand the biology
and needs of aquarium fish species before purchasing
them for your home aquarium. Never release pet fish or
aquatic organisms from the home aquarium to open
waters. Either destroy them, sell or give them to
someone else, or return them to the store where
purchased for proper disposal. Support stronger local,
state and federal regulations designed to prevent the
spread of non-native species, and let others know of
your concerns for the protection of native species and
biodiversity."
It is however hard to believe that such mild encouragement to do the right thing is efficient in deterring the spread of a threatening invasive species.
Dramatic Solution
Even as pressure is mounting on the federal government to turn on its new electric Asian carp barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a conservation group is pushing for more dramatic action.
A report released today by the Alliance for the Great Lakes asks the federal government to explore replumbing the river systems just below Lake Michigan to once again separate the waters of the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River basin.
The two systems were not connected until Chicagoans linked them by canal more than a century ago.
That project reversed the flow of the Chicago River to flush the city’s sewage away from Lake Michigan, the city’s source of drinking water, and into the Mississippi River basin. A secondary benefit was that it created a shipping lane between the two grand drainages.
Now, armed with data from a $110,000 study funded by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and Great Lakes Fishery Trust, the Alliance for the Great Lakes says it’s time to look at severing that link.
It could be a massive undertaking, and it would mean disrupting barge traffic and likely require significant sewage treatment upgrades in Chicago, because at least some of the city’s treated waste would begin to flow back into Lake Michigan.Lake Ontario Riverkeeper
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Asian Carp Description
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Grass Carp
Grass carp are a long, flat-sided fish. They is the largest member of the minnow family that generally reaches lengths of 50-90 cm (20-35 in) but can grow well over 1 m (50 in) and weigh over 50 kg (100 lbs). Their colour is similar to common and black carp but lighter overall with an olive back and golden sides.
Sterile grass carp have been used to control aquatic plants in specific areas of the United States and Alberta without fear of reproducing and getting out of control. This method of intentional release in a waterway can be a potentially dangerous practice and is now illegal in Ontario unless authorized by the appropriate authority.
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| Black Carp
Black carp are a longer more cylindrical fish that typically grow to a length of more than 1 m (36 in) and weigh, on average, about 15 kg (33 lbs). They are blackish-brown in colour and have blackish grey fins, a forked tail and large scales outlined in black.
Black carp were brought to North America by accident in a shipment with grass carp. Black carp escaped into the Osage River in Missouri in 1994.risk.
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| Bighead Carp
Bighead carp are a deep-bodied, aptly named fish as it has a large head with eyes that sit lower down on its head and a large up-turned mouth without the barbels of common carp. They can grow to more than 27 kg (60 lbs) in weight and over 1 m (35 in) in length. It has very small scales with dusky green blotches on the back, mottled grey-silvery sides and a white or cream coloured belly.
Bighead carp have been used in the aquaculture industry to filter the waters of lakes and ponds where other fish species, such as catfish, are raised thereby increasing the productivity of the operation. They are also sold and used for human consumption. However, they have escaped from aquaculture facilities and have established populations.
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| Silver Carp
Silver carp are deep-bodied, laterally compressed (narrow) fish with eyes that are low set very similar to the bighead carp except they have a smaller head and mouth, and have very small scales that are uniformly silver in colour with olive on the head and back. They can grow to over 1 m (50 in) in length and weigh over 50 kg (100 lbs). They are very efficient at straining suspended material from the water through use of gill rakers that appear spongy.
Silver carp have been used in aquaculture and water management to improve water quality because they are very efficient at filtering water. As with most of the carp species of concern, silver carp have escaped or have been released into waterways where they produce established populations.
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In the News...
Dec.2009 articles
Problem carp growing by leaps and bounds upriver- 12/15/08
Riverfalls News
Pressure rises to turn on Great Lakes carp barrier - 12/11/08
Journal-Sentinel, WI
Army Corps asked why $9M fish barrier isn’t on- 12/12/08 -
Chicago Tribune
Kaskaskia River to host another carp cleanup - 11/12/08 -
bnd.com
Jumping silver carp discovered in Wisconsin waters - 12/2/08
Journal-Sentinel, WI
Fish in troubled waters - 11/28/08
Rome Sentinel, NY
'Electric fence' designed to keep carp out of Great Lakes- 11/25/08
Suburban Chicago News
Make last stand for Great Lakes on Chicago River- 11/25/08
Mlive, MI
Coast Guard OKs barrier to keep Asian carp from Great Lakes- 12/17/08
Detroit Free Press
Chicago’s electric carp barrier hits a snag - 10/5/08
Journal-Sentinel, WI
You Tube Videos
Wild Jumping Carp On Illinois River
Preventing a Hostile Takeover: Asian Carp + the Great Lakes
Asian Carp Invasion Part I
Asian Carp Invasion Part I
Learn more...
Asian Carp Status Report
Fisheries and Oceans Canada
Summary of Permit Authority and Prohibited Species by State
With Special Emphasis on Asian CarpMississippi Interstate Cooperative Resource Assoc.
Asian Carp
SeaGrant, Penn. State U
Carp Management Plan
Asian Carp Working Group, DC
Asian Carp - Key to Identification
Mississippi River Basin
Infectious Diseases of Silver Carp
Lethbridge College, AB
Electrical Barrier To Keep Asian Carp Out Of Great Lakes
Technovelgy.com
Infectious Diseases of Silver Carp
Lethbridge College, AB
Bighead Carp- pixs, distribution map
USGS
Silver Carp- pixs, distribution map
USGS
Aquatic Species - Many good Links
US Department of Agriculture
Foreign Nonindigenous Carps and Minnows (Cyprinidae) in the United States
USGS
Asian Carp Threat
Healthylakes.org
More News on main site
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