Canada Pledges Funds for Fight to Keep Carp Out of Great Lakes

 Canada border inspector makes a carp bust. Ministry of Natural Resources photo.

Canada is joining the fight to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. During the next five years, it will allocate $17.5 million toward prevention, early warning, rapid response, and management and control.

"The Great Lakes is the largest freshwater system in the world and represents one of Canada's most valuable assets," said Keith Ashfield, minister of Fisheries and Oceans Canada.

"We are committed to working with our American counterparts to continue to protect the Great Lake basin. 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."

Read the official press release here.

During the past year or so, Canada border inspectors have stopped several truckloads of carp enroute from the United States to Toronto and other cities with large Asian populations. I applaud their vigilance, and now this financial commitment.

But I fear that it might be money wasted because of our government’s failure to address the threat in a timely and efficient manner, as Asian carp knock on the door of the Great Lakes from this side of the border.