Pending legislation introduced by U.S. Rep. Candice Miller (R-MI) that would give the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers authorization to take immediate action to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes received a coveted endorsement earlier this week from the National Wildlife Federation.
In a letter written to Miller, Mike Shriberg, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center, offered the organization’s full backing of the Defending Our Great Lakes Act.
“Our Great Lakes are facing one of the greatest invasive species threats in decades: Asian carp,” Shirberg said. “They are voracious filter feeders that can grow to more than four feet long, weigh up to 100 pounds and quickly dominate a body of water by gobbling up the same food that sustains native fish populations. The Defending Our Great Lakes Act will set us on the right path toward addressing a permanent solution to this threat to our quality of life.”
Last year, the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Interbasin Study, a report by the Army Corps of Engineers, described a number of strategies that could be implemented to permanently eliminate Asian carp and other invasive species from entering the Great Lakes. The list of prevention methods included the construction of a channel at a specific control point near the western end of the Chicago Area Waterway System and installation of control devices such as electric barriers, carbon dioxide bubble screens, underwater sound cannons and pheromones.
The Defending Our Great Lakes Act would give the Army Corps of Engineers authority to immediately take near-term and long-term actions in that area to prevent the spread of Asian carp.