The behemoth exotic fish known as Asian carp have marched toward the Great Lakes for more than 25 years, but so far preventive efforts have kept the long-feared invasion of the prolific species at bay.
Officials in Michigan and Illinois would really love to keep it that way. But a standoff with the federal government is slowing plans down, while some urge immediate action to stay ahead of the fish.
The states are part of a multi-state and international coalition bent on keeping the voracious fish out of the region’s waterways. The fear is that the fish – weighing up to 100 pounds and eating 10% of their weight in algae every day – could alter ecosystems and collapse recreational and commercial fishing throughout the Great Lakes.
However, progress on a long-planned project to build an elaborate multi-layered system to prevent the advance of the invaders has slowed to a halt with no definite end in sight.
“If this fish ever becomes commonplace in the Great Lakes, it will destroy it as a fishery and change it forever,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, said on the Senate Floor on March 11.
