(Thumbnail image: USA Today)
The largest fish kill in Illinois history is underway in the waters outside of Lake Michigan. Late Wednesday night, authorities poured thousands of gallons of poison into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in an effort to keep the invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.
These fish are a potential ecological and commercial disaster for the Lakes. But is poison the best solution? The issue is spurring controversy among commerce, environmentalist and fishermen interests.
We look at perspectives from CBS, Fox News, The Chicago Sun Times, Chicago Now, MSNBC, and WFLD FOX 32 Chicago.
The carp weighs between 40 to 80 pounds and it consumes 40 percent of its weight every day. CBS News explains their notoriety.
“It spawns three times a year, and has no known predators, it devours plankton and algae vital to other fish, including the perch and salmon of the Great Lakes threatening a $7 billion fishing industry…and once they’re here, there’s no stopping them. The Asian carps progress has been inexorable. Anything man has done to deter it has at most only delayed it.”
MSNBC brings us one fisherman who is happy to have them and explains how the fish came to be.
“A problem to some but profit for Orien Briney. 'It's a fisherman's dream. More fish than he can catch.' He sells carp from the Illinois River all over the world for food and fertilizer, making Briney one of the few happy to see the Asian carp in America’s waters. Imported to eat the plankton buildup in Arkansas catfish farms, in just three decades, the Asian carp have invaded nearly every water way in the Mississippi River basin, squeezing out native fish from Indiana to Minnesota.”
Up until now, two electronic barriers meant to keep them out have had mixed results. The barriers are now closed for maintenance. FOX News shows why state authorities have turned to this $3 million poison operation.
“Yes, we’ve seen evidence that this operation is working, we’ve seen many fish coming to the surface.”
No carp have been found in Lake Michigan, but their DNA has been found six miles away in a canal connection to the Mississippi. The fact that the poison kills all fish species, not just the Asian carp, have some questioning the methods. Some local blogs voice opposition. First, The Chicago Sun Times:
“Pretending Asian carp aren't already in Chicago [is the first] of two main reasons I don't want the corps anywhere near poisoning the rebounding fisheries on our urban/suburban waterways.” My second main reason … is that even big sprawling governmental agencies have to earn my trust for that right. And [they] have not earned it.”
And in the Chicago Now blog:
“Will the environmentalist find an excuse for all of those dead fish in the local landfill?”
Local FOX affiliate in Chicago, WFLD explores another solution.
“They’re gonna start poisoning the waterway try to knock these carp back and that might buy us some time, but the real solution is one, to close down the locks…and beyond that, try to separate these systems; Chicago sends its waste water, down the Mississippi because we turn the river around, that’s created the connection that’s allowed all this to happen.”
So what do you think? Is the massive fish kill an appropriate response to the potential carp invasion? Are there other, more effective alternatives?
Writer: Katlin Chadwick
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