GLIN==> Emergency Action Needed to Stop Invasive Fish from Wreaking Havoc on Great Lakes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Release

October 14, 2009

 

Alliance for the Great Lakes ** Great Lakes United ** Healing Our
Waters-Great Lakes Coalition ** Sierra Club Great Lakes Program

 

 

Emergency Action Needed to Stop Invasive Fish from Wreaking Havoc on Great
Lakes

Great Lakes Waterways Surrounded by Asian Carp

 

October 14, 2009 (Chicago) - Conservation organizations are urging the
federal government to take emergency action to prevent one of the most
notorious invasive species from entering the Great Lakes and wreaking havoc
on the world's largest surface fresh-water resource.

 

As invasive Asian carp bear down on the electrical barrier operating in the
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal (CSSC) in Illinois, environmental and
conservation groups are calling on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to take
emergency action to stop the threat now and to look at the separation of the
Mississippi River from the Great Lakes as a permanent solution.

 

The carp have been discovered in waterways less than 100 feet from the CSSC,
and could bypass the barrier completely if a heavy rain floods the Des
Plaines River and causes it to spill into the canal. 

 

"There is an urgent threat of Asian carp entering Lake Michigan if the
nearby waterways flood into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal," says Joel
Brammeier, acting president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes. "We
are just one heavy rain away from this emergency becoming an epidemic."

 

In addition to the Des Plaines River, which in some places is only yards
away from the CSSC, the carp could also enter another adjacent canal, the
Illinois & Michigan (I&M), which is connected to the CSSC by small culverts
that the carp can swim through during heavy rains. 

 

"This is an emergency and we are down to sandbags and mortar," says Jennifer
Nalbone, Campaign Director of Invasive Species and Navigation for Great
Lakes United "Barriers must be built between these nearby waterways and the
Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to ensure that during a fall flood live carp
cannot be carried into the CSSC past the electrical barrier."

 

The Asian carp are invasive fish that are harming the environment and
economies of the Mississippi and threaten to do the same to the Great Lakes.
The fish consume enormous amount of food that other fish rely on, allowing
the carp to muscle out native species. The fish can grow to up to 3 feet
long and weigh up to 100 pounds, quickly dominating a waterbody due to their
size.  The fish also pose a risk to people: the silver carp are easily
startled and often jump out of the water when startled, making them a hazard
to boaters, anglers and water-skiers.  

 

The CSSC is a man-made waterway that connects Lake Michigan to the
Mississippi River basin. Originally intended as a means for the city of
Chicago to overcome sewage problems in the early 20th century, it created an
artificial connection through which aquatic invasive species can pass in
both directions. The electric barrier is located near Romeoville, Illinois
on the CSSC. A new DNA monitoring technique being used by the U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with the University of Notre Dame, found
that invasive Asian carp are a mere mile from the electric barrier in the
CSSC.

 

"We are down to the wire, and Congress needs to ensure that the Corps acts,
and fast," says Emily Green Executive Director of the Sierra Club- Great
Lakes Program. "The carp are not abiding by DC's slow timetable. The Corps
needs to start emergency actions now."

 

The groups are calling on the U.S. government to:

*         Build an emergency barrier (like sandbags) between the Des Plaines
and the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to ensure the Des Plaines River and
live carp cannot flood into the CSSC past the electrical barrier. 

*         Install a barrier (such as a bubble/acoustic barrier) to stop the
carp from migrating upstream into the Des Plaines River.

*         Fill in critical sections of the I&M Canal so that carp cannot
swim into the CSSC during floods.

 

"Failure to confront the threat of the Asian carp is in invitation for
disaster and threatens to undermine the progress the nation is making to
restore the Great Lakes and revive the economy through the Great Lakes
Restoration Initiative," says Jeff Skelding, Campaign Director for the
Healing Our Waters Coalition. "Congressional action is needed now to protect
our Great Lakes, public health, economy and way of life."

 

For a map illustrating the location of the barriers and how flooding could
allow the fish to bypass them, visit www.glu.org <http://www.glu.org/> .

 

For more information contact:

 

Joel Brammeier, Acting President, Alliance for the Great Lakes, phone:
(312) 939-0838x224, email: JBrammeier at greatlakes.org 

 

Jennifer Nalbone, Campaign Director, Invasive Species and Navigation, Great
Lakes United: phone: (716) 213-0408 email: jen at glu.org

 

Jeff Skelding, Campaign Director, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition,
(202) 797-6893, email: JSkelding at nwf.org

 

Emily Green, Director, Sierra Club Great Lakes Program, Phone: (608)
695-4994, email: emily.green at sierraclub.org 

 

 

Academic/Expert Contacts:

 

For more on the status of the carp and actions needed to stop it, contact: 

Dr. Phil Moy, University of Wisconsin Sea Grant, phone: (920) 683-4697
email: philip.moy at uwc.edu

 

For more on the threat to the Great Lakes fishery, contact: 

Dr. Marc Gaden, Communications Director and Legislative Liaison, Great Lakes
Fishery Commission, phone: (734) 662-3209 x. 14 email: marc at glfc.org

 

 

____________________________________

Brent Gibson

Director, Communications

Great Lakes United

(613) 867-9861

 <mailto:bgibson at glu.org> bgibson at glu.org |  <http://www.glu.org/>
www.glu.org

 

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