Canadian And U.S. Governments Stepping Up Efforts To Stop Asian Carp

According to a recent CBC Windsor, Ontario web story, Ottawa will make a significant investment to protect the Great Lakes from the threat of Asian carp, a large invasive fish that could jeopardize the food supply of native species if it enters Canadian waters from the U.S.

Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Keith Ashfield has just announced that $17.5 million will be allocated over the next five years to four key activities: prevention, early warning, rapid response and management and control.

The CBC story went on to quote Hugh MacIsaac, professor and director of the Canadian Aquatic Invasive Species Network at the Great Lakes Institute for Environmental Research as saying, "This is a huge increase in spending. It’s a lot of money from Canadian perspective. It exceeds what we spend on sea lampreys."

Authorities on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border have been worried about several kinds of Asian carp that have been making their way up the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes for several decades.

U.S. President Barack Obama announced earlier this year that the U.S. will spend $50 million in 2012 to prevent further incursions of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.

U.S. authorities have installed several underwater electric barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, a man-made waterway connecting Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River Basin, in an effort to prevent Asian carp from entering the lake.

"We have to separate the Mississippi drainage from the Chicago drainage," MacIsaac said.

Read the complete story and view the astonishing video at: www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/story/2012/05/28/wdr-asian-carp-funding-ottawa.html

The National Marine Manufacturers Association (NMMA) is also in strong support of this critical initiative because Asian Carp Is a major threat to sportfishing in the Great Lakes and they urge individuals and the NMMA members to act now to help stop the spread of this invasive species by contacting their Members of Congress and urging them to support key legislation that will help protect the Great Lakes and recreational fishing.

On April 19, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) and Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.) introduced the Stop Invasive Species Act into both chambers of Congress.

S. 2317 and H.R. 4406 will help protect the Great Lakes’ $7 billion sportfishing industry by requiring the Army Corps of Engineers to prepare and implement an action plan to prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from entering the Great Lakes.

Another group, KeepAmericaFishing™ is urging all anglers to contact their Members of Congress in support of this critical legislation.