Resolution Calls For Basins' Separation To Control Asian Carp

Apr 8: The bi‐national committee of advisors of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission (GLFC) called upon the U.S. government to seek immediately ecological separation of the Great Lakes and Mississippi basins, acknowledging the imminent threat of the "voracious Asian carp." The action -- which came in the form of a rare binational resolution, approved during the advisors meetings in Windsor, Ontario -- calls on Congress, the administration, and the states to act immediately to achieve ecological separation of the two basins to prevent further aquatic species invasions.

 

    According to a release, "While efforts are being undertaken to stop the Asian carp, such as the operation of electric barriers, rotenone treatments, eDNA and traditional sampling, there is a growing support for the ecological separation of the Mississippi and Great Lakes waters. Ecological separation would ensure that no live organisms could move between the two basins, a protection that the natural watershed divide provided.

 

    U.S. committee chair Denny Grinold from the Michigan Charter Boat Association said, "We simply cannot tolerate even one more invasion. An Asian carp invasion is preventable, but the federal government must commit to the solution of separating Mississippi waters from the Great Lakes. Otherwise, it is stakeholders like us, and the next generation, that will bear the steep economic and ecological costs."

 

    The Committee of Advisors consists of both U.S. and Canadian members representing recreational and commercial fishing, Aboriginal communities, public‐at-large, academia, and state agencies -- also expressed deep concern about the continued influx of aquatic invasive species into the Great Lakes and disappointment over the Canadian and U.S. Governments' inaction to remedy this serious problem. The U.S. Committee of Advisors was created under the Great Lakes Fisheries Act of 1956 and is constituted to provide citizens with the opportunity to be heard on issues of importance to the health and sustainability of the Great Lakes fishery and to make recommendations pertinent to the commission's duties.

 

    Access a release from the GLFC (click here). Access the resolution (click here).