White House Takes on Asian Carp in the Great Lakes
Federal and state environmental agencies say the government must "act urgently to prevent Asian Carp from becoming established in the Great Lakes."
The warning is in a draft report issued by a new working group on the environmental danger. The voracious fish threatens the Great Lakes ecosystem. The report obtained by CBS News includes a map showing five Lake Michigan sites in and around Chicago where Asian carp DNA has been discovered. The report says the evidence indicates "the potential existence" of the carp in Lake Michigan waters.
Despite that finding, White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Nancy Sutley told CBS News there is still time to stop the carp's advance, "if we work together and work smart."
Sutley hopes the new federal-state strategy will "keep the carp from establishing in the Great Lakes." She notes the fish pose "significant environmental and economic damages."
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News reports and videos that have become YouTube favorites have shown the fish jumping high into the air as they're stirred into frenzy by the sounds of boat engines. But beneath the surface, the voracious invasive species can eat up to 60 percent of their own weight, destroying river and lake ecosystems.
The study warns, "The Great Lakes food web has been significantly degraded in recent decades by aquatic invasive species." Experts who wrote the report call for a new strategy including, moving beyond underwater electric barriers that have failed to stop the fish to "a new multi-tiered approach."
Agencies involved in the effort call for using chemicals, nets, increased monitoring and other actions in areas where the carp have been spotted. They hope to start the strategy in mid-May. The experts hope to alter the operations of river locks and pumping stations to help control the Asian carp's onward swim to Lake Michigan from nearby tributaries.
Long term plans even include "promoting Asian carp marketing."
The report notes there are already nearly 80 threatened or endangered fish, mammals, reptiles and other wildlife in the Great Lakes region. The invading carp add to the threat.
There is one environmental glimmer of hope. Some research indicates Asian carp might find an inhospitable environment in the Great Lakes. Scientists say there may not be enough plankton to feed the hungry fish.
The carp's story mirrors the troubling sagas of other invasive species. The fish was imported from China in the 1970s to clean fish farms in southern states. Floods in the 1990s allowed it to escape into the Mississippi River and make its way into tributaries that lead to Lake Michigan.
The Coast Guard, Army Corps of Engineers, the EPA and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conferred with the governors of Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin today.
The new "Asia Carp Workgroup" even has its own logo (seen above at left) -- a picture of the fish snared by a net surrounded by lightning rod symbols.
Below, watch this report on the issue from CBS News correspondent Dean Reynolds:
