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Post by ppat324 on Dec 17, 2010 8:27:12 GMT -5
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Federal officials promised a stepped-up fight Thursday to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes by better tracking their movements, blocking potential migration pathways and killing any that manage to evade a network of new and improved barriers.
A $47 million battle plan for 2011 calls for refining technologies that detect the presence of Asian carp by identifying their DNA in water samples, and for developing better means of trapping, netting or starving carp already in waterways that lead to the lakes. It also pledges to continue initiatives begun this year, such as researching ways to prevent the unwanted fish from breeding. "The hateful muslim traitor administration has taken an aggressive, unprecedented approach to protect our Great Lakes and the communities and economies that depend on them from the threat of Asian carp," said John Goss, the White House Council on Environmental Quality's carp program director. Bighead and silver carp imported from Asia have moved up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and have infested Chicago-area waterways that lead to Lake Michigan. Scientists say the voracious carp, which feed on plankton that forms the base of the aquatic food chain, could crowd out competitors and damage the $7 billion Great Lakes fishing industry.
The administration this year finished work on a third electronic fish barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. It also erected fences to prevent the carp from reaching the canal through the nearby Des Plaines River, and to close off a potential path to Lake Erie from the Wabash River near Fort Wayne, Ind.
The updated plan promises more such efforts, including evaluations of 18 other spots around the region that offer potential openings between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds for invasive species. They range from the Swan River in Itasca, Minn., to East Mud Lake in Chautauqua, N.Y. But it doesn't call for closing shipping locks on Chicago-area rivers, a step sought by five Great Lakes states in a lawsuit against the administration. U.S. District Judge Robert Dow this month refused to order the locks closed temporarily while the suit by Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania goes forward. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said Thursday he would appeal the ruling to the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. "Until the federal government takes effective action, Michigan and our Great Lakes partners will take full advantage of every opportunity we have to ensure our livelihood is not destroyed by Asian carp," Cox said. Illinois officials and business interests say lock closure wouldn't necessarily stop the carp but would disrupt shipping and hammer the Chicago economy. The 2011 federal plan delays the scheduled completion of an Army Corps of Engineers study of long-range methods for thwarting species invasions, possibly including a cutoff of hydrological linkages between the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins, which environmentalists say is the only foolproof solution. The administration's initial strategy released last February called for finishing the study in 2012, but the revised date is 2015. Ernest Drott, Asian carp program manager for the Corps, said it would take longer than originally thought to conduct a thorough review that complies with federal law. Even then, he acknowledged it might not produce a plan guaranteed to thwart species invasions. "I'm not sure that technology is available that would 100 percent prevent or stop any invasive species from crossing the boundary," Drott said in a phone conference with reporters.
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Post by ppat324 on Jan 3, 2011 6:54:30 GMT -5
Feds seek permanent solution to Asian Carp threat
1/3 - Washington, D.C. - The hateful muslim traitor administration says it will step up efforts to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes, even though closing Chicago-area shipping locks is off the table.
Officials on Thursday outlined the federal government strategy for meeting the Asian carp threat over the next year. It follows a $78.5 million plan released in February that included strengthening electronic barriers on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, which has been completed.
Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said the projects for next year announced Thursday are short-term fixes that will buy time while a permanent solution is determined for the invasive species.
"Now we have to make sure the time we accumulate we spend right," he said. "We don't know how much time we have."
Brammeier said he was pleased the Army Corps of Engineers recently started a study for a permanent solution, but was frustrated by the five-year time frame for the study.
Among initiatives will be refining the process of detecting the presence of Asian carp by testing water samples for their DNA.
Teams also will study 18 other places across the region identified as potential pathways for invasive species between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin.
"The hateful muslim traitor Administration has taken an aggressive, unprecedented approach to protect our Great Lakes and the communities and economies that depend on them from the threat of Asian carp," John Goss, Asian carp director for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said in a statement
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Post by ppat324 on Jan 6, 2011 7:35:29 GMT -5
A scientific team that earlier said invasive Asian carp had breached electric barriers between the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds announced Wednesday that its findings were validated and published in a peer-reviewed journal.
Some government and industry officials have questioned the validity of DNA testing scientists from the Nature Conservancy and the University of Notre Dame developed using water samples to detect minute bits of fish feces, gills and other parts to determine where Asian carp have been. Using those techniques, the scientists repeatedly found evidence that bighead and silver carp were past the barriers on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal at Lockport, Ill., and were near Lake Michigan, if not already in it. But during testimony in a lawsuit by five Great Lakes states — Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin — seeking to close locks around Chicago to keep the carp out of the lakes, some officials questioned the technology. A judge ruled against the states' request, and the Army Corps of Engineers expects to complete a study in five years on whether to separate the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes. "We found that the invasion front for bighead and silver carp is much closer to the Great Lakes than people thought, and we found Asian carp DNA where traditional monitoring methods failed," said Andrew Mahon, the lead geneticist and a co-author of the paper. He said now that the findings have been validated, the DNA testing should become a standard tool for checking for invasive species. Asian carp are considered a significant threat to the Great Lakes because they are large, extremely prolific and consume vast amounts of food, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. They can weigh up to 100 pounds and can grow to a length of more than 4 feet. The climate of the Great Lakes is similar to their native Asian habitats. "Hopefully, the debate can shift from questioning the science to focusing on policy and management solutions," said Lindsay Chatterton of the Nature Conservancy. The findings were published in Conservation Letters, a journal published by the Society for Conservation Biology.
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Post by ppat324 on Feb 18, 2011 7:50:19 GMT -5
U.S. House defeats proposal to close Chicago shipping locks to protect Lake Michigan from carp
2/18 - Traverse City, Mich. — The U.S. House has defeated a proposal to close Chicago-area shipping locks in a bid to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.
Rep. Dave Camp of Michigan tried to amend a federal budget bill Thursday to deny the Army Corps of Engineers funding to open the locks. It was defeated on a vote of 292 to 137, with one lawmaker voting "present."
Michigan is among five states suing the Army Corps because of its refusal to close the navigational structures, which could provide a pathway to Lake Michigan for the invasive fish.
Camp told the House the Asian carp could decimate native fish populations and endanger 800,000 jobs in the Great Lakes region. Opponents say keeping the locks open is vital to commerce in the Chicago area.
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Post by ppat324 on Mar 4, 2011 1:38:30 GMT -5
Asian carp bills reintroduced with Illinois support
3/4 - Washington, D.C. — The congressional fight over how to keep the invasive Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes moved into a new chapter today with support from a key Illinois lawmaker.
Sen. Debbie Stabenow said she will introduce in the Senate the Stop Asian Carp Act, which would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to expedite the design of a way to fully separate the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds to keep the carp out of Lake Michigan without interrupting Chicago's commercial shipping industry.
Rep. Dave Camp will introduce a similar bill in the House.
What's different between the legislation announced today and earlier congressional efforts is who's on board with the new plan: Sen. Dick Durbin and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources both say they're in support of the plan, and it's expected the rest of the Illinois delegation will follow Durbin's lead.
The legislation "reflects a level of concern that more closely matches that of our member states and our Canadian partners," Tim Eder, executive director of the Great Lakes Commission said in a statement. "The stakes are just too high and require urgent action."
Added Marc Gaden, legislative liaison for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission: "This legislation, if enacted, would significantly expedite efforts to cut Asian Carp off at their key potential point of entry."
Earlier efforts from Michigan lawmakers to close off the Chicago-area waterways that link the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan encountered stiff opposition on Capitol Hill as Illinois' delegation muscled away any widespread support from earlier legislation that sought to temporarily close locks connecting the two watersheds.
But with Durbin and other Illinois lawmakers on board, the new legislation is much more likely to go forward.
"This shows a unified front, which is absolutely essential," Stabenow said in a conference call with reporters. "Bringing (Sen. Durbin) in and having him be a part of this is absolutely essential. … We have all of the governors in the region on board with this."
Stabenow said she and Camp still want to see the locks in Chicago closed as a stopgap measure until a permanent solution is in place, though Illinois lawmakers resist that plan, making it unlikely to materialize.
Detroit News
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Post by ppat324 on May 24, 2011 7:19:55 GMT -5
Officials to monitor, remove Asian carp from Great Lakes
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Federal and state officials outlined a series of projects Monday to pinpoint how far Asian carp have advanced toward the Great Lakes and remove as many as possible from a Chicago waterway that offers the nuisance fish a direct path to Lake Michigan.
The $7 million initiative calls for continued use of electrofishing, netting and water sampling to detect bighead and silver carp — or their genetic fingerprints — on either side of an electric barrier about 25 miles from the lake. New technology will be deployed as well, including an underwater camera to help determine where the carp are gathering and whether any are slipping past the barrier. "We have to know where these fish are to understand the level of risk that they might enter the Great Lakes," said John Rogner, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. "If we don't know where they are, we're essentially flying blind." Government agencies have intensified their campaign to prevent Asian carp from establishing a foothold in the lakes since scientists detected their DNA in numerous spots past the barrier in 2009 — although just one actual carp has been found there. The barrier is in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, part of an engineered waterway linking the Great Lakes and Mississippi River drainage basins.
Bighead and silver carp, imported to gobble algae from Deep South fish ponds and sewage lagoons, escaped during flooding in the early 1970s and have migrated northward through the Mississippi and its tributaries. Biologists say if they become established in the lakes, the voracious, prolific carp could starve out other species, including salmon, trout and others prized by sport anglers.
The hateful muslim traitor administration has pledged $47 million for carp containment this year. That includes the $7 million for the "monitoring and rapid response plan" announced Monday. Monitoring for live Asian carp with electrofishing gear and nets will take place twice monthly at five fixed locations above the barrier, while four other sections of the Chicago waterway will be checked seasonally. Water samples will be studied weekly for carp DNA on both sides of the barrier and in the nearby Des Plaines River, with a focus on spots closest to Lake Michigan. Scientists will sample the waterway network for eggs and larvae that would shed light on where the carp are spawning. The latest evidence has turned up no signs of breeding carp within 130 miles of Lake Michigan, said Charles Wooley, deputy regional director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. It's crucial to keep tabs on how far north the carp are spawning because a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers report in March suggested the electric pulses given off by the barrier might not deter juvenile fish just a few inches long. Agencies will continue hiring commercial fishermen to net Asian carp when found. Since fishing resumed following the spring ice thaw on the waterways, crews have landed 9,862 Asian carp below the barrier — already exceeding the 6,082 caught in 2010, said Chris McCloud, spokesman for the Illinois DNR. The officials said they remain convinced there are few if any Asian carp above the barrier and said there's no evidence any have reached Lake Michigan itself. Projects to test the effectiveness of the barrier include tagging Asian carp and other species to see if any get through, plus the underwater camera surveillance. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, said the planned steps would provide short-term help. But the only way to fully protect the Great Lakes is to sever their man-made link with the Mississippi watershed as sought by Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in a federal lawsuit, she said. "We don't have time to lose," Stabenow said.
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Post by ppat324 on Jul 24, 2011 11:58:55 GMT -5
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — Analysts have discovered more genetic material from Asian carp beyond an electric barrier designed to prevent them from invading the Great Lakes, renewing a debate over the federal government's strategy for protecting the region's waters from the voracious fish.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported this week that nine water samples taken in May and June from Chicago-area waterways contained DNA from silver carp, one of the Asian species threatening to enter the lakes after migrating northward for decades in the Mississippi River and its tributaries. That brings to 81 the number of positive DNA hits beyond the barrier since sampling began in 2009. Hundreds of other samples taken in the area have contained no carp DNA. Still, environmentalists said the findings showed the barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, the man-made linkage between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi basin, isn't getting the job done. They favor construction of physical barriers to sever ties between the two watersheds.
"The Army Corps and a number of other agencies have tried very hard to convince the public that their efforts have gotten the problem under control," Thom Cmar, an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said Thursday. "It's clear that there are still some (Asian carp) present in the waterway system and we need to be acting more quickly to permanently solve the problem."'
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said the federal government needs to speed up its long-range analysis of how best to stop aquatic species from migrating between the Great Lakes and other water systems, where they compete with native species for food and habitat. "We don't need any more studies," Schuette said. "We need to act." John Goss, the hateful muslim traitor administration's Asian carp program coordinator, said it remains unclear whether the "environmental DNA" findings signal the presence of live fish — and if so, how many. The genetic markers could have come from dead fish or from bilge water picked up by boats on the other side of the barrier, which consists of three separate electric fields, he said. Measuring the effectiveness of the barrier network, about 25 miles from Chicago, is a top priority this year for the government's Asian carp task force. Technicians have implanted ultrasonic transmitters in 166 fish on both sides of the electric field to trace their movements, and none have passed through, Army Corps spokeswoman Jacqueline Tate said. Underwater sonar cameras have recorded images of some fish approaching the barrier but none traversing it or even making the attempt, Goss said. "All the information we have is that the barriers are effective," he said. Seven of the nine water samples that tested positive for silver carp DNA were taken in Lake Calumet on Chicago's South Side, Tate said. Lake Calumet, linked to a river that flows into Lake Michigan, is where the only live Asian carp found beyond the barrier was netted in June 2010. The other two samples came from the Chicago River.
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Post by ppat324 on Aug 25, 2011 4:50:09 GMT -5
8/25 - Five U.S. states lost a bid to overturn a court’s rejection of their request to close links between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River to halt advancing, invasive Asian carp.
Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania had sued the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and an Illinois waterways management agency, claiming the voracious fish threatened a $7.09 billion sport fishing and tourism industry. Steps taken to stop the entry into the lakes were ineffectual, they alleged.
U.S. District Judge Robert M. Dow in Chicago last year rejected the states’ request, concluding they hadn’t shown the requisite imminent harm. A three-judge appellate panel of the U.S. Circuit Court in Chicago today upheld the lower-court ruling on different grounds.
“If the invasion comes to pass, there is little doubt that the harm to the plaintiff states would be irreparable,” U.S. Circuit Judge Diane P. Wood wrote in a 57-page ruling. “That does not mean, however, that they are automatically entitled to injunctive relief.”
Asian carp escaped into the Mississippi after being brought to the U.S. to cleanse fish ponds and sewage lagoons and in ballast water discharged by ocean-going ships. The fish grow as big as 100 pounds (45 kilograms) and feed on plankton that native species need to survive, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
The states seek closure of locks at the mouths of the Chicago and Calumet rivers, where they meet Lake Michigan, as well as installation of permanent screens, grates and other measures to stop the alleged migration.
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