Great Lakes advocates have been fretting for years, about the potential invasion of Asian carp. This week the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee released its updated plan to keep the beast at bay.
The strategy includes monitoring waterways in northern Illinois and removing any Asian carp that might wiggle their way toward the Electric Barrier System. The Army Corps of Engineers manages the barriers – three of them, near Chicago. hey’re supposed to stop Asian carp from reaching Lake Michigan, where they could play havoc with the ecosystem.
The new control plan calls for continued evaluation of the barriers’ effectiveness.
In the meantime, US Fish and Wildlife Service will keep monitoring waterways for carp DNA; while other scientists will test a water gun. It emits seismic pressure waves that could confuse and steer carp off course.
Native fish already have a tough go of it – almost 200 invasive species now share the Great Lakes.
According to the Army Corps, the leading edge of the Asian carp population dwells some 55 miles from Lake Michigan.
