TRAVERSE CITY,
Mich. (AP) Ñ A two-week search turned up no additional Asian carp in a
Chicago waterway where one of the invasive fish recently was found beyond an
electric barrier network designed to prevent them from reaching the Great
Lakes, officials said Monday.
Teams were deployed
after a commercial fisherman’s capture June 22 of a silver carp, one of the
species native to Asia that have infested the Illinois River and advanced on
Lake Michigan. The 28-inch, 8-pound fish was only the second live Asian carp
ever caught past the barriers, giving fresh ammunition to critics who
question the effectiveness of the government’s strategy for protecting the
lakes.
Scientists are
still examining the fish carcass to determine where it came from, said Kevin
Irons, aquatic nuisance species program manager for the Illinois Department
of Natural Resources. But he and other officials said they were convinced
its discovery just 9 miles (14 kilometers) from Lake Michigan did not mean
large numbers of Asian carp had breached the defenses.
“It’s definitely an
outlier,” said Charlie Wooley, Midwest deputy regional director for the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service. “There’s a tremendous amount of relief.”
Numerous carp
varieties were imported from Asia in the 1960s to cleanse algae from Deep
South sewage treatment facilities and catfish farms. They escaped and spread
up the Mississippi River and its tributaries.
Of particular
concern to the Great Lakes are silver and bighead carp, which gorge on
plankton that other fish need. Silver carp spring from the water when
startled, a hazard to boaters.
The electric
barriers are 37 miles from Lake Michigan. The only other live Asian carp
discovered beyond them was a bighead netted in 2010.
Last month’s find
triggered a search as required under federal-state policy. It involved four
teams with devices that stun fish, making them easier to catch, plus three
commercial fishing crews who used more than 43 miles of gill netting.
They caught over
20,000 fish but no Asian carp, Irons said.
Members of Congress
from most states in the Great Lakes region want additional defenses
installed at a lock-and-dam choke point in Joliet, Illinois, farther
downstream from the electric barriers. Illinois business groups oppose that,
saying shipping would be disrupted. The Trump administration has delayed
release of a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report on measures that could be
taken there.
Irons said
continuing efforts to thin Asian carp populations and block their path
toward Lake Michigan are succeeding. “We think the risk is very low,” he
said.
The Alliance for
the Great Lakes, a Chicago-based environmental group, accused regulators of
complacency.
“The finding of an
adult Asian carp north of the electric barrier is a warning signal,”
spokeswoman Jennifer Caddick said. “Asian carp continue to move toward the
Great Lakes, yet the administration and government agencies continue to put
the Great Lakes at risk by continuing with business as usual.”