By Angelica A. Morrison
This story originally appeared on Great Lakes Today and is republished here with permission.
The National Wildlife Federation issued a statement in response to the recent discovery of an Asian Carp found just a few miles outside of Lake Michigan.
There are a series of electric barriers located in the waterway. The barriers are meant to keep the carp away, but more efforts are underway.
The Army Corps of Engineers is working on a draft study. The plan is to try to stop Asian Carp at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam which is upstream from some the electric barriers.
“The discovery of a live Asian carp just nine miles from Lake Michigan and beyond the electric barriers makes it all the more critical that we add additional defenses to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes,” said Mike Shriberg, executive director for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center. “The electric barriers are not sufficient to stop Asian carp on their own.”
The group is calling on the Army Corps of Engineers to release the draft study.
The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee made the announcement of the carp’s discovery on Friday. The fish was actually found the morning on June 22.