Asian carp have not gone away and neither will Michigan TU’s vigilance on this ever-important crisis affecting the coldwater resources in the Great Lakes basin.  We’re still engaged and we want to update Michigan TU members with the latest information on what is and isn’t happening pertaining to Asian carp.

What’s the progress of activities currently underway to prevent the spread of Asian Carp into the Great Lakes?

The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC) continues to work the control plan, known as the Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework. The following summary updates for what’s been happening on Asian carp since our last In The Stream update (for more details on any of these topics, go to www.asiancarp.org).

• Ongoing monitoring & sampling plans (a six-year old Bighead carp found in Lake Calumet on June 22nd)
• A new initiative by Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn to control Asian carp population.
• The Indiana DNR will erect a mesh barrier as a short-term step to address the advance of Asian carp up the Wabash River system and their potential movement into the Maumee River, a tributary to Lake Erie.
• Ohio DNR is looking at ways to prevent Asian carp from migrating from the Ohio River Basin into the Lake Erie Basin.
• Illinois US Senator Dick Durbin and Illinois US Congresswoman Debbie Halvorson are finally engaged in this crisis and have toured the Illinois River with the IDNR to observe their monitoring & sampling efforts.
• Short-term closures of the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal in early October to facilitate the U.S. ACOE construction work on the electrical barrier.
• Five Great Lakes states, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Minnesota, are suing the federal government to force the closing of the Chicago area shipping locks as a last-ditch effort to keep the invasive species from entering Lake Michigan. They made their case in federal court on September 7, 2010.
• Announcement of a soon to be named “Carp Czar” to take the point person responsibilities for the ACRCC.

Here’s how you can help.

• This last bullet point is very significant and important in our continuing effort for better and timelier communication by the ACRCC to the stakeholders like Michigan TU. We have been promised better communication but the decision on implementation of better communication rests with this new “Carp Czar”. With this in mind, it’s important that we continue to write the Asian Carp Control Regional Coordinating Committee requesting, or better yet, demanding better communication.

Send your comment to: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

You can also write Illinois Congressional officials actively involved with the Asian Carp issue:

Senator Durbin @ http://durbin.senate.gov/contact.cfm

Congresswoman Halvorson @ https://forms.house.gov/halvorson/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Signed,

Michigan TU Conservation Committee