Great Lakes

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Man bites fish

By Karessa Weir | December 14, 2009

(IL) Chicago Tribune – When we learned that wildlife officials had spent $3 million poisoning the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to kill one Asian carp (and tens of thousands of innocent by-swimmers), our first response was whew! The purpose of last weekend’s deliberate fish kill wasn’t to eradicate the carp population but to make sure none of them was close enough to make a run past an underwater electric barrier while it was shut down for maintenance. Despite the near-hysterical protests of some of our neighbors, the body count suggests the carp aren’t poised to take over Lake Michigan the day after tomorrow. Their numbers must be smaller than feared, we thought, or the barriers are working better than the doomsayers want to believe. More

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Cries to halt Chicago canal traffic because of carp are opposed

By Karessa Weir | December 14, 2009

(MI) Detroit Free Press – As Michigan’s attorney general prepares to file lawsuits this week to force Illinois and federal agencies to do more to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, some members of Congress also are mounting an anti-carp assault.

They say the time has come to close off a system of Chicago canals that allows invasive species to move between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin. More

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Asian carp raises fear and loathing on Great Lakes

By Karessa Weir | December 11, 2009

(MI) The Associated Press – After nearly four decades as a fishing guide on the Great Lakes, Pat Chrysler has seen enough damage from invasive species to fear what giant, ravenous Asian carp could do to the nation’s largest bodies of freshwater. “It’s like introducing piranhas to the Great Lakes,” Chrysler said from South Bass Island in Lake Erie, which teems with walleye, perch and other fish that draw anglers from near and far. More

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Lock to lake open after carp hunt ends

By Karessa Weir | December 9, 2009

(MI) Detroit Free Press – State and federal agencies hunting for Asian carp have reopened a critical lock leading to Lake Michigan that was closed last week, after failing to find any Asian carp there. Crews dragged fishing nets through a 5 1/2 -mile stretch of the Cal-Sag channel near the O’Brien lock; it was closed to barges during the net operation Friday. The channel is an offshoot of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, and the lock is just 6 miles from Lake Michigan. More

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Netting operation yields no Asian carp past electric barrier

By Karessa Weir | December 9, 2009

(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – Federal officials reported late Tuesday that a large-scale netting operation on a Chicago-area waterway above the electric fish barrier has yielded no Asian carp. Three weeks ago the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that water samples in the Cal-Sag channel about six miles south of Lake Michigan tested positive for Asian carp DNA. More

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Fish kill called necessary to save the Great Lakes

By Karessa Weir | December 7, 2009

(DC) The Washington Post – The poisoned fish began floating to the surface in the cold Illinois dawn, but as scientists and ecologists began hauling their lifeless catch to shore, they found only one carcass of the predator they targeted — the ravenous Asian carp. Never before have Illinois agencies tried to kill so many fish at one time. By the time the poison dissipates in a few days, state officials estimate that 200,000 pounds of fish will be bound for landfills. But they say the stakes — the Great Lakes ecosystem and its healthy fish population — could hardly be higher. More

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When It’s OK to Poison Fish

By Karessa Weir | December 7, 2009

(NY) New York Times – As the SuperFreakonomics chapter on global warming suggests, solutions that are initially viewed as repugnant sometimes gain acceptance over time. Consider, for example, that environmental groups have supported a “last-ditch effort” by Illinois environmental officials to dump a toxic chemical into a canal. The purpose? To target and kill the giant and destructive Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes and potentially bringing about the “collapse of the Great Lakes sport and commercial fishing industry.” More

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1 Asian carp turns up after fish kill

By Karessa Weir | December 4, 2009

(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