Asian carp may be swimming fat and happy in lakes, ponds and bayous downstream of the Mississippi River thanks to recent spring floods.
NPR reported Friday that scientists are worried the monster fish will crowd out food sources for native fish in these once carp-free areas.
April and May storms flooded more than 6.5 million acres along the Mississippi river from Missouri to Louisiana, possibly allowing several non-native species commonly known as Asian carp to infiltrate surrounding water bodies, according to the story.
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildife Service
Asian carp, brought to the U.S. by farmers to prevent algae growth in southern catfish ponds, invaded the Mississippi River decades ago and headed north.
Fearing the carp would pass through the man-made Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to Lake Michigan and surrounding lakes, the Army Corps of Engineers constructed an electric barrier in the canal to prevent the ferocious fish from utterly disrupting the ecosystem and food chain of the lakes.
Last summer, a 20-pound bighead Asian carp was fished out of Lake Calumet in Chicago just six miles downstream of Lake Michigan; experts aren’t sure how the carp breached the barrier.
Great Lakes agencies have since ramped up efforts to prevent a carp meltdown. In late May, the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee, a nexus of federal and state agencies, released a $7 million Asian carp monitoring and rapid response plan.
Here are some recent statewide endeavors:
- Illinois officials are running invasion tabletop exercises with Ontario experts, employing new tools and recruiting volunteers in response to the great carp scare.
- Following the capture of several “pioneering individuals” in Minnesota’s St. Croix River, officials will attempt to inventory the number of Asian carp in inland lakes and rivers this summer. The Minnesota legislature recently cut funding to build a barrier on the Mississippi River.
- About 10 to 11 Asian carp have been documented in Wisconsin since 1996. Still, the invader has worried Wisconsin residents unlawfully taking to Asian carp with crossbows, according to Wisconsin Outdoor News.
- A Cleveland Plain-Dealer report recently highlighted two alternative routes Asian carp could take to the Great Lakes: through a marshy area at the intersection of two rivers in Indiana and through the Ohio River and several tributaries to Long Lake in Ohio. The possible routes have Ohio carp specialists rewriting their battle plans.
- If a recent town hall meeting mirrors statewide sentiments, then not everyone in Michigan agrees that Asian carp are the biggest threat to the Great Lakes. The carp risk can’t be ignored, but as The Muskegon Chronicle’s John S. Hausman reports, many experts believe “there are bigger fish to fry.”
big head carp if you google its very eaffdrint then grass carp which is garbage fish .. big head can littlly qualify as sushi fish.. cause their texture and taste.. its way superior then trout and catfish.. and less bones.. i dare anyone do an taste test.. search online there is an reason why big head carp cost way more then trout and catfish in fish stores..
I recently found out the FWS is “quietly restocking” Alligator Gar to prey on Asian Carp. They were fished out, and according to them, because of this lots of unwanted fish populations exploded. I wish these people would stop saying Asian carp need 100 miles of river to spawn, this is giving people a false sense of security. Lack of predators is why all invasive species take over. Lake Michigan was overfished thus the mess we have now. Restoring our native predators can only make our lakes more resistant to invasive species, including Asian Carp. As reported to congress it takes a while before Asian Carp are noticed, waiting until they get thick before we rebuild our predators probably isn’t a good idea. With 185 invasive species thriving in Lake Michigan, it’s clear the whatever plan we have now isn’t working.