Asian Carp: Should no expense be spared in trying to prevent an Asian carp invasion of Lake Michigan?
History of Controversy:
Asian Carp were originally imported from Southeast Asia to the southern United States in Arkansas during the 1970’s to help aquaculture and wastewater treatment facilities keep retention ponds clean. Retention ponds or retention basins are used to manage stormwater runoff to prevent flooding and downstream erosion and to improve water quality. Also all along the Mississippi River Asian Carp were used by catfish farmers that had problems cleaning their ponds from algae and other plankton, since the Asian Carp’s diet consists of mostly plankton, and can eat up to 40% of their body weight; they saw these fish as a solution. The Asian Carp worked up until about 20 years later when the great floods of the Mississippi and Missouri River occurred in the 1990’s. This allowed the fish to escape into the Mississippi River. The Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers are all connected and allow the fish to swim freely between them. The carp keep swimming north because of their preference in colder waters and in search of more food.
As Asian Carp travel, they leave a trail of destruction caused by their actions. Not only do they eat a lot of food but they eat the food of the native fish from the bottom of the food chain. By doing so they ultimately destroy the food chain in an ecosystem as well as their habitats. They end up taking over that body of water by killing off other fish by eating their food and with their ability to reproduce exponentially. They reproduce quickly but grow even faster allowing them to only have predators during a short amount of time during their youth. Adult Asian Carp on average measure four feet long and about one hundred pounds. Growing up to that size and not having predators means that Asian Carp become the top of the food chain, eating the food of fish from the bottom, creating an imbalanced ecosystem. Asian Carp are also dangerous to humans riding their boats in these infested areas. Asian carp are scared of the vibrations sent out by the boats’ engines and this fear causes them to jump out the river and reach heights of up to 10 feet above water. There have been reports of bruises, black eyes, cuts and even broken bones but this can cause even more severe damage too.
The Illinois River is connected to the Great Lakes by a man-made canal system called the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). This Canal is 28 miles long, 202 feet wide and 24 feet deep originally was made for barge highway for cargo ships and an open sewer to carry waste away from Lake Michigan, but in the last 20 years it has been used for recreational purposes too. Now the CAWS is the only way the fish could reach the Great Lakes and infest them.
Current Status of Controversy:
People are now scared that the carp will reach the Great Lakes and take them over like the fish did to the Mississippi River. This problem is so serious now that it has been brought up to the White House to find a solution for this problem. It seems that the only way they could enter the Great Lakes would be a threw canal that connects the Mississippi to Lake Michigan.The first idea brought up was to close the CAWS but further investigation led them to realize that this would cause thousands of jobs to be lost, and a million dollar income source to Chicago to be shut down. They decided to leave it open but still are thinking about closing it yet that won't happen. A short term solution they created was an electric barrier so it would sting the fish if they were to swim close to the canal.
The electric barrier is currently the best tool to a stop Asian Carp from the getting into the Great Lakes. It was designed by the Us Army Corp of Engineers. The electric barrier is actually a series of three barriers which allows a constant electric flow in the water twenty four hours a day. The system is not designed to kill the fish but so that as a fish enters the electric field, the electric current makes them increasingly uncomfortable and they swim back the way they came.
Without the electric barrier system in place, Asian Carp and other fish would have an unhindered pathway from the Mississippi basin to the Great Lakes and vice versa. The barriers are complex electrical and mechanical systems and must periodically be powered down for maintenance. More than one barrier is needed so that at least one barrier can be active when another barrier, or barriers, are offline for maintenance. Though the barriers are very efficient, they are not immune to failures and disruptions. Some scientists therefore believe that the electric barriers are not the permanent solution to stop the mixing between the two basins. While the government took this approach toward the problem and currently looking for a permanent solution to this problem, and one that is 100% proof plan because people believe the carp have already made their way into the lakes.
The recent scientific advance, DNA testing for Asian Carp, has not yet tested positive in the Great Lakes. This breakthrough test was developed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the University of Notre Dame, who developed the high-tech method for sniffing out rare fish species by sifting telltale traces of DNA from water samples. Wisconsin fishery officials say none of the 275 samples taken from Lake Michigan harbors and several of its tributaries has tested positive for Asian carp DNA. Even though with these results Phil Moy, an invasive species specialist, said that he believes there are Asian Carp in Lake MIchigan but there are not enough to test positive on the DNA tests. Therefore just because the DNA test come out negative doesn’t mean that they aren’t any Asian Carp in Lake Michigan. Yet either way, there is no way to know for sure if the fish have penetrated the electric barrier but to wait and see.
Ethical Issues
One ethical issue is closing the CAWS. Damming the canal that connects the Mississippi water basin and the Lake Michigan water basin would stop the Asian Carp from entering and invading the Great Lakes. But some of the problems with closing or damming the canal include: an economic and transportation loss. Closing the canal would cause hundreds to thousands of jobs lost in the Chicago area. This is because there are ships that pass through the canal daily and without a canal the ships can’t pass through, business and jobs are lost. Totaling to a $1.5 billion a year loss for Chicago.
Another ethical issue is if Chicago lets the fish invade Lake Michigan. By doing so the Asian carp could cause a $7 billion a year loss in sports and commercial fishery and tourism. Letting the fish invade the Great Lakes in unethical because the the Great Lakes important to the whole ecosystem.
Conclusion
Sight of Asian Carp are obvious and would be recognized anywhere . None have been reported on the other side of the barrier therefore making it easy to say that this barrier is indeed working. The barrier is a very good solution to this problem because it allows the canal to still be used for its original purpose still keeping a multi million dollar income source. Yet it seems the government rather find a more efficient solution. The only solution that would be fool proof would be to close this canal. Therefore if no expense where to be spared in keeping these fish out would be to close the Chicago Area Waterway System. In the opinion of Michael Hahn, an engineer from SEWRPC (southeastern wisconsin regional planning commision), the best solution would be to find an answer that is highly efficient and still not over priced, in his mind this creation of the electric is a good permanent solution. He said that this barrier is highly unlikely to fail due to there being 3 barriers so if one were to break down they still have 2 working. The barriers breaking down is highly not possible because they are under current maintenance checks. Another thing he mentioned was that they most likely had powerful generators incase electricity was to go out.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Phil Moy (an invasive species specialist) and Michael Hahn from SouthEastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commision (an engineer) for the help and knowledge they gave us. We couldn’t have done this project without their experience and guidance. Thank You.
Asian Carp were originally imported from Southeast Asia to the southern United States in Arkansas during the 1970’s to help aquaculture and wastewater treatment facilities keep retention ponds clean. Retention ponds or retention basins are used to manage stormwater runoff to prevent flooding and downstream erosion and to improve water quality. Also all along the Mississippi River Asian Carp were used by catfish farmers that had problems cleaning their ponds from algae and other plankton, since the Asian Carp’s diet consists of mostly plankton, and can eat up to 40% of their body weight; they saw these fish as a solution. The Asian Carp worked up until about 20 years later when the great floods of the Mississippi and Missouri River occurred in the 1990’s. This allowed the fish to escape into the Mississippi River. The Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers are all connected and allow the fish to swim freely between them. The carp keep swimming north because of their preference in colder waters and in search of more food.
As Asian Carp travel, they leave a trail of destruction caused by their actions. Not only do they eat a lot of food but they eat the food of the native fish from the bottom of the food chain. By doing so they ultimately destroy the food chain in an ecosystem as well as their habitats. They end up taking over that body of water by killing off other fish by eating their food and with their ability to reproduce exponentially. They reproduce quickly but grow even faster allowing them to only have predators during a short amount of time during their youth. Adult Asian Carp on average measure four feet long and about one hundred pounds. Growing up to that size and not having predators means that Asian Carp become the top of the food chain, eating the food of fish from the bottom, creating an imbalanced ecosystem. Asian Carp are also dangerous to humans riding their boats in these infested areas. Asian carp are scared of the vibrations sent out by the boats’ engines and this fear causes them to jump out the river and reach heights of up to 10 feet above water. There have been reports of bruises, black eyes, cuts and even broken bones but this can cause even more severe damage too.
The Illinois River is connected to the Great Lakes by a man-made canal system called the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). This Canal is 28 miles long, 202 feet wide and 24 feet deep originally was made for barge highway for cargo ships and an open sewer to carry waste away from Lake Michigan, but in the last 20 years it has been used for recreational purposes too. Now the CAWS is the only way the fish could reach the Great Lakes and infest them.
Current Status of Controversy:
People are now scared that the carp will reach the Great Lakes and take them over like the fish did to the Mississippi River. This problem is so serious now that it has been brought up to the White House to find a solution for this problem. It seems that the only way they could enter the Great Lakes would be a threw canal that connects the Mississippi to Lake Michigan.The first idea brought up was to close the CAWS but further investigation led them to realize that this would cause thousands of jobs to be lost, and a million dollar income source to Chicago to be shut down. They decided to leave it open but still are thinking about closing it yet that won't happen. A short term solution they created was an electric barrier so it would sting the fish if they were to swim close to the canal.
The electric barrier is currently the best tool to a stop Asian Carp from the getting into the Great Lakes. It was designed by the Us Army Corp of Engineers. The electric barrier is actually a series of three barriers which allows a constant electric flow in the water twenty four hours a day. The system is not designed to kill the fish but so that as a fish enters the electric field, the electric current makes them increasingly uncomfortable and they swim back the way they came.
Without the electric barrier system in place, Asian Carp and other fish would have an unhindered pathway from the Mississippi basin to the Great Lakes and vice versa. The barriers are complex electrical and mechanical systems and must periodically be powered down for maintenance. More than one barrier is needed so that at least one barrier can be active when another barrier, or barriers, are offline for maintenance. Though the barriers are very efficient, they are not immune to failures and disruptions. Some scientists therefore believe that the electric barriers are not the permanent solution to stop the mixing between the two basins. While the government took this approach toward the problem and currently looking for a permanent solution to this problem, and one that is 100% proof plan because people believe the carp have already made their way into the lakes.
The recent scientific advance, DNA testing for Asian Carp, has not yet tested positive in the Great Lakes. This breakthrough test was developed by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and the University of Notre Dame, who developed the high-tech method for sniffing out rare fish species by sifting telltale traces of DNA from water samples. Wisconsin fishery officials say none of the 275 samples taken from Lake Michigan harbors and several of its tributaries has tested positive for Asian carp DNA. Even though with these results Phil Moy, an invasive species specialist, said that he believes there are Asian Carp in Lake MIchigan but there are not enough to test positive on the DNA tests. Therefore just because the DNA test come out negative doesn’t mean that they aren’t any Asian Carp in Lake Michigan. Yet either way, there is no way to know for sure if the fish have penetrated the electric barrier but to wait and see.
Ethical Issues
One ethical issue is closing the CAWS. Damming the canal that connects the Mississippi water basin and the Lake Michigan water basin would stop the Asian Carp from entering and invading the Great Lakes. But some of the problems with closing or damming the canal include: an economic and transportation loss. Closing the canal would cause hundreds to thousands of jobs lost in the Chicago area. This is because there are ships that pass through the canal daily and without a canal the ships can’t pass through, business and jobs are lost. Totaling to a $1.5 billion a year loss for Chicago.
Another ethical issue is if Chicago lets the fish invade Lake Michigan. By doing so the Asian carp could cause a $7 billion a year loss in sports and commercial fishery and tourism. Letting the fish invade the Great Lakes in unethical because the the Great Lakes important to the whole ecosystem.
Conclusion
Sight of Asian Carp are obvious and would be recognized anywhere . None have been reported on the other side of the barrier therefore making it easy to say that this barrier is indeed working. The barrier is a very good solution to this problem because it allows the canal to still be used for its original purpose still keeping a multi million dollar income source. Yet it seems the government rather find a more efficient solution. The only solution that would be fool proof would be to close this canal. Therefore if no expense where to be spared in keeping these fish out would be to close the Chicago Area Waterway System. In the opinion of Michael Hahn, an engineer from SEWRPC (southeastern wisconsin regional planning commision), the best solution would be to find an answer that is highly efficient and still not over priced, in his mind this creation of the electric is a good permanent solution. He said that this barrier is highly unlikely to fail due to there being 3 barriers so if one were to break down they still have 2 working. The barriers breaking down is highly not possible because they are under current maintenance checks. Another thing he mentioned was that they most likely had powerful generators incase electricity was to go out.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank Phil Moy (an invasive species specialist) and Michael Hahn from SouthEastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commision (an engineer) for the help and knowledge they gave us. We couldn’t have done this project without their experience and guidance. Thank You.