Plan to set firm deadline for study approved

A deadline will be required for a study looking at ways to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved an amendment to the Water Resources Development Act that will require a February 2019 deadline for a study looking at ways to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.

The Brandon Road Study aims to evaluate options and technologies near the Brandon Road Lock and Dam site in Joliet, Ill., to prevent aquatic invasive species from reaching the Great Lakes. The study is seen by supporters as a “main key to understanding the impact harmful Asian carp is having now and will have in the future on our Great Lakes.”

The amendment sets a hard deadline of February 2019 for the study to be completed, including recommendations for addressing Asian carp directly.

“Asian carp are voracious and often outcompete native fish for food and habitat, which is of great concern to wildlife and resource managers,” a 2017 Great Lakes Sea Grant Network study stated.

In the Great Lakes, Asian carp will compete with native fish like ciscos, bloaters and yellow perch, which in turn are fed upon by predator species including lake trout and walleye.

According to AsianCarp.us, there are no North American fish large enough to eat an adult Asian carp.

The amendment approved by the House was sponsored by Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge Township, and cosponsored by Reps. Bill Huizenga, RMichigan, Dan Kildee, DMichigan, and Bill Foster, D-Illinois.

“Protecting the Great Lakes from Asian carp is the most important task at hand,” Joyce said. “The Great Lakes serve as an economic engine, resource for natural fresh water for more than 30 million people across eight states, and as a place of sport for the region. It would be an absolute shame if Asian carp invaded the Great Lakes, destroying the natural ecosystem. The Brandon Road Study is the one report needed for us to know the current Asian carp impact to the Great Lakes and what we need to do to avoid a complete takeover of the harmful fish. We need these results in a timely manner so we can act fast to protect this international treasure.”

The study was initiated in 2015 and a draft study was originally due in February 2017, but was delayed by the Trump Administration and eventually released that August.

“Delays like the one with the draft report are unacceptable and harmful,” Joyce said. “This timeline is the most important part as we look for solutions to avoid an Asian carp invasion, sooner rather than later.”

The draft report proposes $275 million for technological and structural upgrades at the site.

Among technologies the report endorses are using sound systems to create “complex noise” underwater that would deter fish from the Brandon Road area, plus installing a new approach channel and placing an electric barrier at its downstream end that would repel fish and stun them if they get too close. Brandon Road is several miles downstream from an existing barrier network.

Other measures would include installing water jets to wash away “small and stunned fish” that might be caught up around barges, plus a new lock where floating invasive species could be flushed away.

The report says the federal government would pay 65 percent of the project’s costs, with the rest coming from a “non-federal sponsor.”

The amendment was approved unanimously by the House.