PRESS RELEASE ISSUED: January 31, 2012

River, Lake Advocates Praise New Path Toward Better Flood Control, Cleaner Water, and Keeping Asian Carp Out of Great Lakes

A highly-anticipated report released today clearly demonstrates that it is possible to separate the artificial connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins and prevent the transfer of invasive species through the Chicago river system

The study, Restoring the Natural Divide, offers real alternatives to simply closing the locks between the Chicago River and Lake Michigan. Authored by the Great Lakes Commission and Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, representing governors and top officials from Great Lakes states, cities, and provinces, the report re-envisions the Chicago River as a system which not only prevents the transfer of aquatic invaders such as Asian carp, but also better serves its functions of moving people and goods and managing stormwater, while improving water quality.

Restoring the Natural Divide offers detailed analysis on three possible separation scenarios and includes a wealth of data on the integration of each scenario with the region’s water infrastructure, as well as an outline and timetable for implementation.

The study was prompted by the urgent need to find a solution to the the ongoing problem of invasive species, including Asian carp. Strong evidence suggests that the threat of Asian carp entering the Great Lakes is imminent and their potential to wreak ecological and economic havoc is real.

While Asian carp have been the public face of invasive species, they are among 39 species deemed “high risk” by the Army Corps of Engineers based on a propensity to invade and to inflict significant damage to new habitat.

Local and Federal Governments currently spend upwards of $200 million per year to control invasive species in the Great Lakes. Ending the continuing threat of transfer of these aquatic invaders through the Chicago River system will be essential to the region’s long-term economic well-being, and would complement plans for river restoration, increasing the value of Chicago’s second waterfront. {Continue Reading »}

by Robert Hirschfeld,  Coalition Organizer – Invasive Species

In the three weeks since the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced its plan to fight hunger and Asian carp in one fell swoop, my Asian carp twitter feed has seen more action than in the previous two months combined. #AsianCarp is trending, largely due to the initial disgust* that greets a suggestion of eating river monsters.

Asian carp steaks with Cajun remolade at the Heaven City Restaurant in Mukwonago, WI. Photo courtesy of Gary Porter / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

(I’ve yet to collect the full set of relevant data on what percentage of those adamantly refusing to eat carp don’t think twice about hot dogs. Didn’t your parents ever tell you, “Don’t knock it ‘til you try it”?)

Chicago Tribune columnist Dennis Byrne gets it right when he describes lobsters as “the 19th century equivalent of bigheads.” It has also been said that lobsters are the cockroaches of the sea, and yet it’s a sign of refinement and taste to drop a few bills to rip open their exoskeletons and devour the tasty innards. The superior marketing wizards of the Northeast knew that demand is created from the top down, so you sell it as a delicacy, not some kind of “soylent marine” to be pushed on the masses.

Of course, Mr. Byrne’s ultimate answer is to throw up his arms in disgust at the likely series of unintended consequences that would follow from creating a market for Asian carp. While I take issue with cynicism as the basis for (a lack of) public policy (even in Illinois!), Mr. Byrne is right to be thinking about the logical extension of marketing an invasive species as food.

While humans have driven some species to extinction or endangerment, we have also propped up populations of others to artificially high levels—see chickens, pigs, and cows. Once a profitable industry is established, all the incentives are in place to continue the existence of that industry, even if it trades in a troublesome product. Even if the original purpose of the industry was to exterminate the product. Who will want to end a profitable business—especially in this economy?

Personally, I don’t care if Asian carp are eaten or made into fertilizer for your garden. I’m happy to see them pulled out of the rivers they currently infest, and I’m thrilled to decrease the pressure on the experimental electric “barrier” which is currently serving as the last line of defense against a full-scale Asian carp invasion in the Great Lakes.

Still, Illinois needs to think carefully about its approach on this issue. If the state can successfully sell Asian carp as a healthy, protein-rich, and delicious food, then it should do so. But it should not forget that this is a means to an end—removing the threat of Asian carp.

Which brings me to the deeply buried lead. Asian carp represents only the most visible invasive species threatening our rivers and lakes.  The US Army Corps of Engineers has identified 39 (yes 39!) high-risk invasive species poised to use the Chicago Waterway System to infest the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins. You can eat all the carp you want (and as they are delicious, I encourage you to do so), but that will not end the threat of invasive species. A real solution can only take the shape of a permanent, physical barrier separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds.

Fish infected with VHS. Photo courtesy of WI DNR.

As for the dozens of other invasive species, they’re unlikely to have a place at the table. I assure you, no one is going to want to eat Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia. And unlike the initial aversion to carp, that is a very rational response.

* The reaction to Asian carp appears to be based on association with the “trash fish” Common carp. Unlike Common carp, Asian carp feed on plankton from the middle of the water column, making them a cleaner-tasting fish and keeping them low in toxins like mercury that can bioaccumulate in fish like tuna.

Prairie Rivers Network board member Clark Bullard has written op-eds for the Detroit Free Press and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Dr. Bullard characterizes the failure of the Army Corps of Engineers to deal with the threat of Asian carp as “playing biological Russian roulette with the Great Lakes.”

From the Detroit Free Press, published July 21, 2011

Imagine living in the path of a rain-swollen river, an aging manmade levee the only thing standing between your community and a devastating flood.

As the floodwaters move ever closer, government officials arrive to assure the community that there is no need to worry — the levee was still strong enough to protect the town against most floods.

Would you wait out the flood, knowing there was a chance the levee might not save the town? Or would you take preventive measures to protect your family, your property?

Those are the kinds of questions being asked about an electric fish barrier in the Chicago Waterway System that is supposed to keep Asian carp in the Mississippi River system from invading the Great Lakes.

The electric barrier, built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, isn’t generating enough voltage to repel all sizes of Asian carp.

A Corps-commissioned study found that smaller Asian carp, those less than 5.4 inches long, could breach the electric barrier. The Army Corps was informed in July 2010 that small Asian carp could breach the electric barrier, but the agency decided not to crank up the voltage to repel smaller fish.

{Continue Reading »}

A group of distinguished Great Lakes and Mississippi River scientists have published a peer-reviewed, consensus paper detailing the grave and imminent threat of Asian carp to the Great Lakes and calling for separation of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins.

The paper, titled “Aquatic Invasive Species Risks to the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins,” takes aim at a systematic campaign by special interests to misrepresent scientific results.  The scientists conclude there is strong evidence that: {Continue Reading »}

As long as the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins remain connected by Chicago’s canal system, invasive species like Asian Carp and zebra mussels will continue to spread between the watersheds. While Prairie Rivers Network continues to press for a permanent solution, Asian carp keep swimming closer to Lake Michigan and the electric fence in the Sanitary and Ship Canal remains the last line of defense. Unfortunately it seems like every time the Army Corps of Engineers makes hardware or operational upgrades, scientists discover new “holes” in the fence.

Only after being threatened with a lawsuit by Prairie Rivers Network and the NRDC, the Army Corps of Engineers reluctantly released a 9-month old report that it intended to keep under wraps for at least 6 more months. The report by Smith-Root Inc. raises serious concerns about whether the electric fences are capable of preventing small Asian Carp from reaching Lake Michigan through Chicago’s Sanitary and Ship Canal. More troubling is the accompanying memorandum from the Corps, explaining its failure to act sooner on the results by increasing the operating voltage. {Continue Reading »}

Photo credit: Jason Lindsey

If you have been following the efforts to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, you have probably heard the barge industry and state and federal agencies express confidence that the fish are being held back by the electric fence in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.  Prairie Rivers Network has been looking for evidence to support those claims and has found it lacking. Worse yet, the Corps of engineers has been refusing to release results of experiments that would shed light on the matter.

The electric fence is being operated at only half-power due to safety concerns about boaters and barges passing through the electric field. At half-strength the electric field has been shown to deter big fish, but not small ones. Last year the Army Corps of Engineers paid contractors to determine, under laboratory conditions, the voltage required to deter small fish. The contractor delivered its draft final report in September 2010, but the Army Corps announced they have no intention of finalizing it for public release until Fall 2011. By that time the results will be more than a year old!

After attending meetings with Corps officials in Chicago last week we decided it was time to take legal action. At the same time, investigative reporter Dan Egan of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel informed the public about the Corps’ refusal. Teaming up with attorneys for the Natural Resources Defense Council, Prairie Rivers Network filed a formal appeal, giving us the right to sue if the report is not released within 20 business days. It took the Army Corps less than 48 hours to call our attorney with a promise to release the report within 20 business days.

Under the Freedom of Information Act the Corps can legally delete contractors’ opinions and policy recommendations from a draft report, but must release factual information.  In December the Corps attorneys agreed to provide us with a redacted version, but reversed that decision in February in a letter to board member Clark Bullard. For details see NRDC attorney Thom Cmar’s blog.

Asian carp DNA continues to be found beyond the electric fence, and a live 20-lb specimen was found in waters open to Lake Michigan in June 2010. Other Great Lakes States are asking the US Supreme Court to close the locks connecting the canal to Lake Michigan. The effectiveness of the electric fence is still uncertain. The common good is not served by suppressing results of experiments that could reduce that uncertainty.