Stop Asian carp before its too late, groups say

Poll

PARRY SOUND - Poison, sonar, biotechnology, electric fences.
This is the science behind protecting the Great Lakes from Asian carp, an invasive species of fish with a remorseless appetite.
Numerous waterways and flood-prone areas in the U.S. are now being equipped with barriers to intercept and block the voracious carps as they continue migrating north toward the Great Lakes, according to a $47-million plan released by the Obama administration called the “2011 Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework.”
The 63-page plan, released on December 16, outlines framework and various measures that could prevent Asian carp from infesting the Lakes.
Using millions of dollars in funding, political and environmental groups, mostly in the U.S., are investing in underwater monitoring, high-voltage barriers, eDNA testing, watershed separation, seismic technology and repulsion or attraction pheromones, among other complex research.
Nearly $1 million is being allocated to help establish a “catch and removal” program that would employ fishermen to eradicate carp from local waterways below the electric barriers. An additional $3 million will be devoted to expanding the current commercial market for Asian carp between China and the U.S.
Fillets hard to swallow
“This expansion will be focused on providing fillets for consumption in both domestic and overseas markets, utilizing Omega 3 oils, and using the carcasses as fertilizer,” the plan says.
Commercial interests have alarmed some conservation groups, who have said that the framework, which excludes the closure of U.S. waterways that are connected to the Great Lakes, lacks urgency.
“If the U.S. continues to recommend further study of this issue it should also insist on truly preventative measures during that period of time,” said David Sweetnam, executive director of Georgian Bay Forever, a registered Canadian charity committed to protecting Georgian Bay, in a statement.
“I don’t see where truly precautionary actions to exclude entrance of these fish into the Great Lakes exist within the current plan.”
A representative of the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental action group in the U.S., said: “The ‘plan’ remains an unintegrated menu of disconnected potential actions, random activities, and no sense of what will be done with new evidence of carp on emergency or long-term basis.”
Control methods inadequate
Current methods to control the Asian carp and other non-native species are inadequate, expensive and labor-intensive, the plan explains.
Equally troubling is the ecological consequences of the carp finding its way into the Great Lakes, where a $7-billion fishing industry is at stake.
Although conditions in the Great Lakes - warm temperature, abundance of food, no predators - make for ideal habitat, it is not yet known if the Asian carp can prosper there and subsequently starve indigenous species of fish, as some experts are predicting.
On October 5, 2010, the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans of Canada launched a bi-national initiative to assess these risks over a period of about 18 months. The Canadian government contributed over $400,000 to the effort.
“It is our position that the governments of Canada and the United States must do everything in their power to protect the native ecological integrity of the Great Lakes and clearly that does not include allowing invasive species into these waters,” said Sweetnam.

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