Conservation groups support plan to block Asian carps
As a year not overly friendly to citizen conservation efforts winds down, the sense of urgency surrounding the threat that invasive Asian carps pose to the Great Lakes hasn’t abated.
The National Wildlife Federation and BASS were among 50 hunting, angling, conservation and outdoor industry organizations that last week urged the quickest possible implementation of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Tentatively Selected Plan to improve defenses against Asian carps near Chicago.
The Asian carps, which were released from southern fish farms into the wild by flooding, have been held thus far in the Mississippi basin near Chicago by an electric barrier designed to keep the invasive fish from crossing into canals that connect to Lake Michigan and hence to the rest of the Great Lakes.
Indications suggest some breaching of the barrier has occurred, although no evidence indicates that either silver or bighead carp have entered Lake Michigan through the navigation connectors that are considered the most vulnerable pathway to the Great Lakes.
The fear is that Asian carps, because of their feeding habits, would bring devastation to some existing species that provide both sport and commercial value to Great Lakes residents.
As a result of the seriousness of the threat, many conservation groups favor the elimination of the canals and other connecting waterways, a move adamantly opposed by shipping interests who long have depended upon the engineered access between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi system.
The tentatively selected plan, a compromise cooked up to help bottle up further carp advances while continuing to allow navigation, “proposes a gauntlet of technologies including an electric barrier, water jets, complex sound and a flushing lock to reduce the risk,” the National Wildlife Federation said in a statement.
Although conservationists and fishery experts might prefer an unbreachable wall of earth separating the Mississippi and Great Lakes basins, they pragmatically reckon it’s best to take what they can get.
“The organizations submitting these comments represent millions of hunters, anglers and outdoor recreation enthusiasts across the nation, including those who support the Great Lakes' $7 billion sport fishery and even larger outdoor recreation industry,” said Marc Smith, Great Lakes conservation director for the NWF. “We understand that the Asian carp knocking on the door of the Great Lakes threatens our way of life, the economy we support, and the fish and wildlife which support us. While not perfect, the Army Corps of Engineers Brandon Road plan is the best near-term option for keeping Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. We cannot waste this opportunity to act.”
Because of what they deemed “the national significance of the issue,” the groups urged the Army Corps of Engineers to pursue full federal funding of the $275 million estimated cost, rather than require a local cost-share plan.
Parting shots
No Ohio fishermen will be among the field of 111 pro anglers when the Bassmaster Elite Series field begins 2018 competition on Lake Martin, Alabama, in February. … Learn about winter bird habits during a leisurely 1-mile stroll along Hope Furnace Trail at Lake Hope State Park. The hike is scheduled Saturday beginning at 10 a.m. Dress for the weather. … The bonus gun season ends a half-hour after sunset Sunday. … Otter trapping in select counties and beaver trapping statewide begins Dec. 26. … Dove season reopened Saturday statewide and continues through Jan. 8, 2018. … Duck season, which includes coots and mergansers, reopened Saturday in the South Zone, which includes central Ohio, and continues through Jan. 28, 2018.