December 22, 2011
Feds list methods for blocking Asian carp

----

TRAVERSE CITY — Federal officials said Wednesday they were evaluating dozens of options for stopping Asian carp and other invasive species from crossing between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River systems and doing environmental harm in their new surroundings.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers released a report listing more than 90 options for blocking the path of would-be aquatic migrants, including poisoning sections of waterways, installing devices that emit light and sound waves, and inducing genetic changes to prevent organisms from reproducing.

The report did not indicate which controls the Army Corps might prefer or evaluate their effectiveness or potential cost. Project manager Dave Wethington said experts will pare down the "shopping list" to determine which methods are likely to work best. They will accept public comments from Dec. 21 to Feb. 17.

"It's very important that we cover all the possible combinations of technologies," said John Goss, the Obama administration's Asian carp program coordinator.

Among the alternatives is installing barriers or other structures to sever the century-old, man-made link between the two systems near Lake Michigan in the Chicago area. That method is preferred by Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Those states are suing the federal government, demanding quicker action to prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, and disrupting their fishing industry by gobbling up plankton needed by other organisms in the food web.

Illinois and Chicago-area business interests say cutting the artificial link would disrupt waterborne commerce and kill jobs.

Goss said an electric barrier network on a shipping canal southwest of Chicago is preventing Asian carp and other fish from swimming northward toward Lake Michigan. No bighead or silver carp — the two Asian species threatening to attack the lakes — have been found beyond the barrier this year, although their genetic material continues to turn up in water samples there. The Army Corps strengthened the barrier's electric pulses this fall.

Still, Goss said the barrier was designed to deter fish and wouldn't necessarily prevent other organisms from getting through. Earlier this year, the Army Corps released a list of 38 other invasive species that pose a risk of slipping between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi, including several types of algae, crustaceans such as the spiny water flea, mollusks and plants.

The Corps also is looking at 18 other waterways from New York to Minnesota that could provide pathways between the two watersheds.

http://record-eagle.com/statenews/x5...ing-Asian-carp