"Great Lakes States in a Fish Fight Over Asian Carp Invaders"

"The Great Lakes are under threat from the Asian carp, an invasive species of fish whose presence is pitting neighboring states against Illinois in a showdown with no clear resolution.

Nearly 200,000 pounds of fish were deliberately poisoned Wednesday night in a $3 million effort by federal and state agencies to eradicate the Asian carp from the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a canal built in 1900 to open up commerce between the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan.

But on Friday, only one Asian carp was found among the thousands of dead fish, which Stacey Solano, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, confirms as "the furthest north a physical specimen [of the fish] has been found close to the Great Lakes." She adds, "Now we know 100 percent they are here."

The single discovery, Ms. Solano says, is motivation enough for the Asian Carp Rapid Response Workgroup, a multi-agency task force that includes the US Army Corps of Engineers, to move forward and figure out "the next steps to protect the Great Lakes." The reason is environmental as well as economical: The lakes support a $7 billion sports fish industry."

Mark Guarino reports for the Christian Science Monitor December 4, 2009.

See Also:

"Chicago Canal Flooded With Toxin To Kill Asian Carp" (NPR)