A new partnership has been formed to block Asian Carp from settling into the Great Lakes.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced this week a partnership with Ontario, Ohio and Wisconsin to commit resources to study the Brandon Road Lock and Dam, which has been identified as a choke point.
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder at AGW (by AM800's Peter Langille)
The U.S Army Corps of Engineers has identified the area near Joliet, Illinois as an important location to implement addition control measures.
Snyder says something needed to be done to bring key important players together.
A male Asian Grass Carp caught by a commercial fishing boat off Point Pelee in August 2016 triggered a massive response from the provincial Ministry of Natural Resources and the federal department of fisheries. The commercial fisher turned the fish over to the MNR and it was tested and found to have been capable of reproducing.
Snyder says this is a critically important issue.
"When you talk about invasive species, if you look at who is at the top of the list of most threatening and most endangering in many respects it would be the asian carp. It would be awful to have them in the Great Lakes, it would be a disaster to have them in the Great Lakes."
Snyder says this is a slow process, but it needs to begin.
"Even starting today with all the hard work, it could be as late as 2025 to get it fully in place, but what I would say to you if you are discouraged by that, if we don't start today, how much longer would it even be."
The Great Lakes support a $7-billion a year fishing industry and a $16-billion a year recreational boating industry.
The Asian Carp poses a danger to the Great Lakes ecosystem because the asian carp family eats everything.