MANITOULIN—A Manitoulin Island resident say he is not hopeful that agencies looking at keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes will block access to Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River Basin.
“Conspicuous in its absence was any mention at all regarding the filling in of the Chicago Shipping Canal – an obvious, practical and inexpensive solution to block access to Lake Michigan from the Mississippi River Basin—I hold out little hope,” stated Mike Wilton, in reference to the Asian Carp Regional Coordination Committee (ACRCC) 2017 Asian Carp Action Plan Summary.
“I did some reading regarding the above and like so much else relating to the ‘Asian carp invasion,’ found very little regarding actual physical plans to stop these fish from establishing populations in the Great Lakes,” said Mr. Wilton. “The prize sentence in all this jumble of words reads as follows, ‘support for inter-basin coordination between the ACRCC and other multi-jurisdictional basin wide partnerships in other parts of the nation to leverage available resources and to maximize conservation will continue.’ I interpret that as meaning, ‘we’ll continue doing what we’re doing’.”
Bill Bolen, USEPA senior advisor and co-chair of the ACRCC, told the Recorder on Tuesday, “our annual Asian carp action plan is a compilation of 60 actions and activities we have taken over the years to keep Asian carp out and what we are doing in the future year.”
ACRCC announced the release of its 2017 Action Plan on January 11. The action plan document details 60 high-priority strategic measures designed to manage the threat of four species of invasive Asian carp in the Great Lakes.
“The plan serves as a foundation for the work of the ACRCC partnership—a collaboration of 27 US and Canadian federal, state, provincial and local agencies and organizations. The 2017 plan builds on prior strategies by applying lessons learned through research and additions of new technologies and control measures. The plan also carries forward a new interagency contingency response plan developed for potential rapid-response to detections of Asian carp at all life stages in unexpected areas of the upper Illinois River and Chicago Area Waterway System,” an ACRCC release states.
“This action plan continues to show our unified resolved to keep Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes,” said Mr. Bolen. “We intend to employ every effort necessary to protect this precious resource.”
“The Great Lakes are an amazing resource that face numerous and evolving threats,” said US Fish and Wildlife Service Midwest Regional Director Charlie Wooley. “These threats require a constant, coordinated and creative effort to keep at bay. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is proud to be part of this action plan and to help protect the Great Lakes.”
“Keeping Asian carp from establishing a population in the Great Lakes is a shared effort. The US Army Corps of Engineers is pleased to be among the agencies contributing to the 2017 ACRCC Action Plan, with efforts focusing on operating and maintaining the electric barrier system, continued monitoring efforts and the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study,” said Colonel Christopher Drew, Commander, US Army Corps of Engineers Chicago District.
This year $17 million of Great Lakes Restorative Initiative funding, in addition to more than $25 million of (US) federal agency base funding, will be used by partners to implement key projects and initiatives to safeguard the Great Lakes from invasive bighead, silver, grass and black carps.
“USGS Asian carp science is focused on early detection, risk assessment and development of control tools and strategies,” said Leon Carl, USGS Midwest Regional Director. “The tools and technologies we have developed are aimed at effectively informing and supporting Asian carp management strategies for preventing the spread of Asian carp in the nation’s waterways.”
“Each member of the ACRCC plays an important role in keeping Asian carp from becoming established in the Great Lakes, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources was proud to lead efforts to remove over one million pounds of Asian carp from the upper Illinois River in 2016,” said Illinois DNR Asian carp biologist Kevin Irons. “Working together, we are keeping them away from the electric barrier system and out of Lake Michigan.”
Officials say they’ve budgeted $42 million this year for Asian carp projects. They include further study of ways to fortify defences at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam complex on a carp-infested Illinois waterway leading to Lake Michigan. Agencies also plan more work on potential carp detection and control technologies.
