(IL) Chicago Tribune – Dozens of boats combed the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal starting in the pre-dawn hours today, ultimately finding a lone Asian carp among tens of thousands of poisoned fish.
After officials launched what’s believed to be the largest deliberate fish kill in state history Wednesday night, biologists sifted through the carnage at dump sites along the popular shipping canal near Romeoville. But by late this evening, they had identified just one 22-inch Asian carp, an invasive fish that officials say has the potential to devastate the region’s commercial fishing industry if allowed to enter the Great Lakes. More
I think serious consideration should be given to closing the canal at least for a term to control the spread of these species.
The economic benefit of barge traffic has been surpassed by alternative shipping routes i.e. down the Mississippi to other countries rather than to a growing mid western population. Barge traffic is routinely affected by weather and is not used for return trips and so is less economical than road and rail.
The volume of river traffic has been dropping slowly over the years and is clearly being outstripped by alternative methods.
I welcome any discussion on the real cost of shutting the canal.