Camo At The Capitol

Michigan takes lead to stop Asian Carp from destroying Great Lakes fishery

In case you're lucky enough to have been out in the woods long enough to be completely unaware of the Asian Carp saga, I've prepared an update. While two species of worthless, hungry, nasty invasive carp have been knocking on Lake Michigan's door for quite sometime now, last month the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that DNA from "Asian Carp" was discovered beyond the $9 million electronic fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary Ship Canal that is supposed to keep the fish out of the Great Lakes. Without diving into the obvious question of "why the government spent $9 million on a fish barrier that does not work," here's the problem: these fish eat nearly half of their body weight daily, grow up to 4 feet in length, weigh up to 100 pounds, jump into the air when startled by boat motors and really really want to get into the Great Lakes. Now with speculation on the effectiveness of the fish barrier, these fish are now just one step away from crippling a $7 billion world-class Great Lakes sportfishery.

This latest discovery means that the only action authorities may take to prevent these fish from devastating the Great Lakes ecosystem is closing the Chicago navigational locks.  MUCC joined the National Wildlife Federation and other Great Lakes advocacy groups in asking Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to seek legal sanctions to do just that a few weeks ago. Yesterday, Cox announced a petition filing with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking an injunction against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and State of Illinois to close the locks, create new barriers to stop the carp from getting into Lake Michigan during floods, create a comprehensive study on the Chicago water system and the carp, and permanently separate those waterways from Lake Michigan

Cox stopped by the MUCC office yesterday  to discuss how Michigan is taking a leadership role to protect the Great Lakes. Check out the MichiganOutofDoors OD Channel to watch this interview

Given Cox's active pursuit to be our state's next governor, I understand the temptation for most folks to turn this into a political issue. Anti-Republicans, take a deep breath. Republicans, stop rolling your eyes. Everyone, put your political opinions aside for a moment -  this is great news for Michigan, the Great Lakes, anglers, and anybody who does not want to get smacked out of their boat by a 60 pound carp on their next open water joyride. Mr. Cox deserves a collective "ata boy" from all of us on this one, understanding that this lawsuit filing is just the beginning step in hopefully what will become a permanent blockade to prevent acquatic invaders' havoc on the Great Lakes. Stay tuned...

Oh, and for you legal junkies out there, check out GreatLakesLaw blog by Michigan water guru/law professor Noah Hall to catch up on the various legal issues Cox is raising to the Supreme Court. I have yet to read his latest, but Professor Hall always does a great job boiling down the issues.

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