The fight to prevent the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes is not just a regional fight or even just a U.S. fight. Canada showed that last week by wading into the battle with a $17 million commitment to preventing the invasive species from entering the lakes.
The fight to prevent the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes is not just a regional fight or even just a U.S. fight. Canada showed that last week by wading into the battle with a $17 million commitment to preventing the invasive species from entering the lakes.
The financial commitment is important, but just as important is the recognition that a collaborative effort is needed to prevent the large jumping fish from wreaking havoc with the lakes’ ecosystem, and the industries and communities that rely on those lakes.
Among the things the money will be used for is creation with U.S. authorities of an early warning system to enable quick reaction when carp are detected. That’s important; reacting too late and with too few resources has been a hallmark of the U.S. fight so far, which, not surprisingly, has not been terribly effective in slowing the spread of the fish.
The proposed system will be designed to alert experts if Asian carp are detected in the lakes and to have a plan ready if they appear to be spreading. The International Joint Commission, a treaty organization that advises the United States and Canada on issues affecting the Great Lakes, has urged authorities to step up detection efforts, according to the Associated Press. Joe Comuzzi, the commission’s Canadian chairman, said Canada’s funding pledge was an important step.
“Our two nations must work together to stop this very real threat, to protect both the fishery and the health of the entire ecosystem,” he said.
He’s right, of course. The fish could do enormous damage to the lakes and especially the waterways that feed into the lakes.
Another priority for the funding will be informing people about the dangers that Asian carp pose and how to keep them out of the lakes, according to a statement from Keith Ashfield, minister of Canada’s Fisheries and Oceans department. That’s important, too. Making sure everyone understands the dangers could help detect the fish and prevent its spread through human means.
Even more important: Canada also will work with law enforcement agencies to prevent unlawful transport of the fish. Authorities have stopped trucks at Windsor that were illegally bringing in live Asian carp with other fish, according to the Windsor Star. It’s bad enough that the fish has migrated all by itself to dominate waterways in the United States. It doesn’t need human help to jump borders, natural or political.
“We are committed to working with our American counterparts to continue to protect the Great Lakes basin,” Ashfield said. “Together, these measures will go a long way toward our ultimate goal of stopping Asian carp from entering and becoming established in the Great Lakes.”
For its part, the U.S. has committed $100 million to the Asian carp fight, and the Army Corps of Engineers is studying methods to stop the fish from entering the lakes at what may be the most vulnerable point. That would be the Chicago canal and river system that artificially links the Great Lakes basin and the Mississippi basin, through which the fish has been spreading for 40 years.
We still believe that the best way to control that access point is to shut it down: close the canal and restore the natural barrier between the basins. Illinois and the U.S. government have been unwilling to do what the other Great Lakes states think is necessary, but their alternative efforts appear to be ineffective.
Given what’s at stake to what are their lakes, too, perhaps the Canadians could add a little international pressure on that issue. In the meantime, it’s good to see them get into the fight.