The Asian carp conflict has existed for nearly two decades, ever since flooding allowed the species to escape into the Mississippi River from fish farms in the South in the 1990s.
One Asian carp has been found in a canal leading to the Great Lakes, and some DNA for the species has been discovered in the Great Lakes. However, multiple Asian carp must reach these bodies of water before they can establish a self-sustaining population. The battle may not yet be lost.
Possible next steps include closing three Chicago-area locks that provide gateways into and out of Lake Michigan, and removing the connection between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River permanently by closing the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal.
While the Great Lakes Boating Federation supports the short-term lock closing, taking the canal out of use would cause great difficulties for the 4.3 million recreational boaters we support. These include removing direct access to facilities for winter storage and to the path for the Great Loop, a journey that many avid boaters have undertaken through the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal to the Gulf of Mexico.
Whether or not officials decide to close the locks or, eventually, the canal, it is clear that the United States and Canada are working together to combat the Asian carp. When the American Great Lakes Fishery Commission asked Fisheries and Oceans Canada to support the fight while the electrical barrier was shut down for maintenance in early December, the Canadian group responded with a team of experts. During the shutdown, a pesticide was administered to part of the Sanitary & Ship Canal to prevent Asian carp from entering the lakes, and Canadian employees released a neutralizing chemical to disperse this poison more quickly. They also helped to remove and recover fish.
Canadian support comes directly from the country’s government, which led Fisheries and Oceans Canada to work with the United States and with those from within its own nation to plan its mode of assisting in the Asian carp struggle. The Great Lakes Boating Federation is pleased to note the progress that the United States and Canada have made by joining together, and hopes that this will set a precedent as we all battle the menace that threatens to upset the Great Lakes ecosystem and economy.