"States Team Up To Fortify Great Lakes Against Invasive Carp"

"A coalition of several states and one Canadian province have introduced an initiative designed to block the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. Funding from this partnership would bolster the defenses in Chicago waterways, which border the lakes."

"Traverse City, Mich.—An interstate partnership has been established to help cover costs of operating a system proposed for a Chicago-area waterway that would help keep invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder said Wednesday.

The initiative would support upgrades to the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Ill., a key choke point between the carp-infested Mississippi River watershed and Lake Michigan. A $275 million draft plan released last year by the US Army Corps of Engineers would attempt to block the carps' path toward the lake with a gauntlet of devices, including an electric barrier, noisemakers, and water jets.

Four types of carp imported from Asia in the 1960s are threatening to attack the lakes, where scientists say they could out-compete native species and upend a $7 billion fishing industry. An adult silver carp, one of the Asian varieties, was found last June in Chicago's Little Calumet River just 9 miles from Lake Michigan, although most of the population is believed to be much farther downstream."

John Flesher reports for the Associated Press February 1, 2018.