Great Lakes Region Looks to Prevent an Invasion by Asian Carp

U.S. officials are considering a $78.5 million plan to prevent a Great Lakes invasion by Asian carp, a species of large, nonnative fish known to destroy ecosystems. While the fish, which can reach 3 feet in length, have not yet been found in the lakes, DNA material from the species has been found in Lake Michigan. Some worry that the fish, which was first found in the southern parts of the Mississippi River in the 1970s, could forever alter the ecosystem of the Great Lakes, which hold about 20 percent of the world’s fresh water. Meeting with leaders from the Great Lakes region in a so-called “Asian carp summit,” federal officials unveiled a plan that would include construction of barriers to prevent flooding that might encourage the spread of the fish; completion of a new electronic barrier to keep carp in the Mississippi system from reaching the lakes; and reducing the amount of time that navigational locks on the Mississippi are opened. The money would come from federal funds already allocated for Great Lakes restoration.