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February 8, 2010

Asian carp summit at White House today

By BRANDON HOWELL

LANSING -- Michigan environmental agencies hope today's White House summit on Asian carp will prompt federal and local governments to take immediate action.

Nick De Leeuw, a spokesman for Attorney General Mike Cox, said Michigan's goal is to get the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal closed.

The state needs "to keep the carp out of the lakes, protect the $7 billion Great Lakes fishery and nearly a million Michigan jobs," he said.

The state also is worried about damage to other species if Asian carp get into inland rivers and streams.

Ken DeBeaussaert, director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes, said, "We have the experience of seeing what's happened in other river systems when the carp did become settled in those areas. In the Illinois system, they'd crowd out the native fisheries there, overpopulate and over-compete for the food supply. It really upset the entire ecosystem."

The Obama administration said the summit will include Nancy Sutley, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, along with officials from the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of the Interior, the Army Corps of Engineers and the Coast Guard.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm, as well as Govs. Jim Doyle, of Wisconsin, and Pat Quinn, of Illinois, will attend.

Illinois is the only Great Lakes state that opposes canal closure, citing millions of dollars in shipping revenue lost as a likely result.

But De Leeuw said closure is necessary to protect Great Lakes fisheries.

He said Illinois has 63 of about 10,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, "but somehow they're still controlling the fate of the entire Great Lakes region."

DeBeaussaert is among those who want the canal closed and said the summit will provide another avenue toward achieving that goal.

"It's a great opportunity for us to try to get the sense of urgency that we feel about the need to act to protect the Great Lakes from the threat," he said.

Many lawmakers in Great Lakes states are pressing for action to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan, calling the situation urgent.

DNA evidence shows that Asian carp have breached an electrical barrier on the Chicago River southwest of Chicago.

Asian carp are a nonnative species introduced to North America through Arkansas fish hatcheries and have been swimming up the Mississippi River for years. Many scientists fear the carp will soon find their way through Chicago and into Lake Michigan.

Cox asked the U.S. Supreme Court to close the canal for a second time. The court rejected the state's original request in January.

Mary Dettloff, a public information officer for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the carp present an urgent and immediate problem.

"Once it's here, it's here," she said. "There's proved to be no way to eliminate or get rid of it."

Dettloff said Asian carp would harm game fish such as steelhead, salmon and trout if they make it into Michigan's river systems.

"It would cause a great deal of havoc with spawning habits over other species in those rivers," she said.

"From an ecological standpoint, we're most concerned with the changes that could occur with the food web. It can out-eat every other species in the lake," she said.

Brandon Howell writes for Michigan State University's Capital News Service.

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