Sunday, November 29, 2009

Asian Carp within 8 Miles of the Great Lakes?

Asian Carp have been detected beyond an electric barrier designed to keep them out of the Great lakes - from JSOnline.com:

The Army Corps of Engineers acknowledged Friday that tests taken earlier this fall revealed 32 positive DNA samples for Asian carp above the electric fish barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, some within about eight miles of the shoreline of Lake Michigan.

The Journal Sentinel first reported the apparent barrier breach Thursday, though the Army Corps refused to acknowledge it until Friday morning.

There now appears to be nothing left standing between the supersized, ecosystem-ravaging fish and the world's largest freshwater system other than the constantly swinging gates of two busy navigation locks, and it may be only a matter of time until the fish are jumping and flopping in Lake Michigan waters from Chicago to Door County - and beyond.

"It's a disaster," said Dan Thomas, president of the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council. "Heads should roll for this."


Reader Harry Campbell writes with a call for action:

"This is a genuine environmental crisis, and the Army Corps of Engineers should close the lock on the Calumet River and chemically cleanse the waterway as soon as possible, and not cave in to barge operators who oppose the closure. Please use whatever influence you or your publication can bring to bear to help make sure the Corps of Engineers moves quickly ­ before it's too late."

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