INTRO: Yesterday in Grand Rapids, Atty General Mike Cox held a third public meeting on stopping the invasive Asian carp. So far the fight has been non-partisan. Almost no one in Michigan is saying—-“do nothing.” But in the last two weeks, and with election season on, republicans are taking ownership of the issue. Michigan Now’s Chris McCarus reports.
About 50 people came to the Gerald Ford Auditorium along the Grand River. As discussion about the danger of Asian carp got underway, the picture was painted. 40 pound Silver carp could someday be jumping over the Grand Rapids, hundreds visible in the air at a time, right downtown.
“You’ve seen the jumping capabilities of the silver carp.”
Dr. Kelley Smith is the Fisheries Division Chief of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
“There are whole marinas and areas of boating that are just shut down. Has nothing to do with fishing. Just boating in the Illinois River system that are shut down because of these carp and the risks that they pose. So it is really serious.”
Those are the small carp that can put waterskiiers and boaters in the hospital. The bighead carp devastate the ecosystems. They eat 40% of their body weight in plankton a day. And they weigh up to 100 pounds. Plankton is the microscopic food that all fish need to survive.
“As biologists mandated to protect the resources of this state, the drowned river mouths, what do I mean by this? Lake Macatawa, Lake Charlevoix, those sorts of places. The big rivers, the attorney general mentioned the St. Joe. The Grand, the Kalamazoo. There are rivers on the east side of the state as well. But also estuaries and bays. We have a recovering walleye population in Saginaw Bay like we’ve never seen. These animals can disrupt all of that.”
Smith, the DNR fisheries chief has been on the road with Attorney General Mike Cox in Benton Harbor and Ypsilanti. Smith says if you had enough money and man power you could poison native and invasive fish with rotonone. But still 10-20% of the fish will survive.
In December Cox went to the U.S. Supreme Court to get an injunction. He asked that the O’Brien and Chicago locks be closed. The high court said no January 19. But 4 hours later, carp DNA was found in Calumet Harbor in Chicago. So Cox filed another injunction. Here’s his plan.
“Closing the two locks I talked about, dealing with the sluice gate, over here dealing with the Des Plaines River flooding, some more studies while the locks are closed. And then action to permanently separate the Great Lakes water basin from the Mississippi.”
Separation is what some Illinoisans fear. Some $70 million in barge traffic, hauling heavy materials like coal and steel, would be jeopardized if the locks are permanently closed. 2 weeks ago the White House sided with the barge industry. Then it pledged $78 million for DNA testing, electro shocking and netting. A member of the conservation group called the Isaak Walton League took the microphone. He was the most conciliatory Michigander in the audience.
“Help Chicago resolve their logistic problems.”
Maybe then the dispute over closing the locks would be solved. Another scientist on hand said even more novel arguments are needed.
“Ironically, you’ve heard in the media about this electric barrier that was started by the corps of engineers. That was planned to prevent invasives that came into the Great Lakes in ballast water like the Round Goby, from going into the Mississippi River system. Unfortunately it took them so long to get the thing up and it didn’t work properly, that by the time it was there they had already passed that way. But yes it is in the interest of both ecosystems to cut off this movement of invasives.”
“Well we’re now at the point where it’s a real problem. And everyone’s excited. I feel like saying why didn’t you listen to me 10 years ago!”
12 years ago Vernon Ehlers started fighting Asian carp here and in Washington. More than 50 years ago he left Grand Rapids to get a Ph.D. in Physics from California, Berkeley. This year, he’s retiring from Congress. But he’s still got some fight left.
“As soon as I can manage to drop a 150 pound carp on the rostrum of the Supreme Court then maybe we can get some action.”
THIS STORY WAS PRODUCED WITH HELP FROM LINDSEY SMITH, DAVID MOORE AND PATRICK CENTER AT WGVU 88.5 FM GRAND RAPIDS.
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