How One Single Fish Could Save Or Destroy the Great Lakes

For years, invasive Asian carp have advanced from the infested waters of the Illinois River towards the Great Lakes. Today, the fast-breeding, gigantic fish threatens havoc on an ecosystem that’s economically crucial to six states.

Managers have tried plenty of half measures to reverse their momentum, including mass poisoning, electric barriers, and millions of dollars worth of management plans. Yet while the carp has pushed upstream, Illinois officials have been unwilling to take the strongest step of closing canal locks to block their movement. The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear petitions to force the issue.

Now, a single fish could fundamentally change that debate.

Last week, a commercial fisherman hired on a “search-and-destroy” mission caught a live bighead carp in Lake Calumet, a mere six-miles from Lake Michigan.

This fish is a sign that everyone’s worst nightmare is coming true. It's the first found beyond a controversial electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a sign that the barrier may not be working. The fish was of breeding age, and its presence confirms DNA evidence earlier this year.

Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) called the catch a “wake-up call." Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) called the fish find a “game changer.” The two senators have announced that they would introduce a bill to speed up a long-term solution: to permanently separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River.

Meanwhile, the Army Corps of Engineers said they will not close the locks in response to the new find.

Of course, the shipping industry opposes both plans -- to close the locks or permanently cut-off the river. They say the measures would slow cargo delivery, and they are holding Chicago officials hostage by threatening to relocate their shipping routes elsewhere.

But what's being ignored is what a huge threat the carp invasion poses to commercial and recreational fisherman on the Great Lakes, an industry also worth billions. Since they were imported and accidentally released in the 1970s, the carp's voracious appetite and fast breeding cycle has crowded-out native fish during their three-decade trip up the Mississippi. Now, the Great Lakes are next.

I'm all for studying the issue in an attempt to limit the economic fallout of many proposed preventative measures. Yet it's crucial that our studies don't translate into years of more delay, especially now that this Asian carp catch indicates the start of their final assault. We should make sure this one 19-pound specimen is the fish that saves the Great Lakes, not the fish that destroys it.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee