Keeping Out the Carp and Containing the Invasion

As I pointed out in my previous post, keeping Asian carp and other aquatic exotic species from spreading is about more than implementing concrete, preventative measures, such as river barriers.

It’s also about public outreach and education from both government agencies and angling organizations.

But preventative measures also are needed, and, in the case of carp, that measure should be hydrologic separation of the Mississippi River basin from the Great Lakes.

Nature did not connect them; we did. And, in so doing we established a two-way highway for exotics: Zebra and quagga mussels moved out of the lakes and into rivers across the nation, while bighead and silver carp are knocking on the door of Lake Michigan.

And that’s just four species. Nearly 200 exotic species are established in the Great Lakes and will have easy access to the rest of the nation’s fisheries until we separate the two systems.

A new, privately funded study will show three ways to build barriers to separate the Mississippi River basin from Lake Michigan, according to the Detroit Free Press. It will be released in January, in hopes of spurring the Army Corps of Engineers to work faster on its own study, which won’t be completed until at least 2015.

Free Press says: “The plan would put one, three or five new permanent barriers into rivers around Chicago to block carp and other invasive species. The project might have to be built in phases over time, but could begin with a single one-way barrier that would stop carp. Later phases would stop invasive species going the other way, from Lake Michigan into the Mississippi River.”

Great Lakes Attorneys General Ask Other States to Help Combat Federal Government, Invasive Species

File this one in the “Why didn’t we think of this before?” folder.

But better late than never, and I applaud attorneys general in the Great Lakes states for taking this action.

They are soliciting support from 25 other states that have been harmed by invasive species spreading out of the Great Lakes and down the Mississippi River. They are asking them to join in demanding immediate action by the federal government to develop a permanent ecological separation between the two ecosystems at Chicago.

By the way, the connection was made decades ago so that Chicago could flush its sewage downstream, instead of allowing it to pollute their water supply in Lake Michigan. Defenders of the connection, including the Obama administration, now insist that it must be maintained for  commercial navigation.

“We have Asian carp coming into Lake Michigan and zebra mussels moving out of the Great Lakes and into the heart of our country, both of which are like poison to the ecology of our waters,” said Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette. 

“This is not just a Great Lakes issue, it is a national issue.  By working together we hope to put pressure on the federal government to act before it’s too late.”

Read more here.

Dead Zone in Gulf Fed by Fertilizer from Minnesota, Wisconsin

Why does the Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi River continue to grow, making thousands of square miles of the Gulf of Mexico uninhabitable and killing fish and other aquatic life that cannot escape?

According to the Star Tribune, a new federal study indicates that nitrogen flowing into the river from Minnesota and Wisconsin is a major reason. The nutrient comes from a variety of sources, including runoff from yards and discharges from wastewater treatment plants. But the bulk originates with fertilizers put on fields used to grow corn and soybeans.

And guess what?  Production of corn has increased substantially in recent years because of the ethanol scam perpetrated on this country by those we sent to Washington. Plug “ethanol” into the Search window to learn more from The Activist Angler about why production of this “green” fuel is such a harmful waste.

On the plus side, farmers say that use of nitrogen fertilizer has not increased at the same rate as corn production because of improvements in both fertilizers and techniques.

Asian Carp Threaten Minnesota, Wisconsin Inland Waters

Whether an electric barrier will keep Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes remains to be seen. Personally, I think that it’s already too late, but evidence has not yet been found to confirm that.

What is certain, however, is that not all of the Asian carp hung a right at the Illinois River, with Lake Michigan as their objective. Many have continued to migrate up the Mississippi, where they threaten to overwhelm rivers in Minnesota and Wisconsin as they have in Missouri, Illinois, and elsewhere.

Here’s the latest evidence, according to the Journal Sentinel:

A bighead carp was caught in the Lower Wisconsin River, about 60 miles from its confluence with the Mississippi.

Additionally, the Minnesota DNR reported that 22 of 50 samples taken on a 4.3-mile stretch of the St. Croix River tested positive for silver carp. That area is about 50 miles upstream from the Mississippi.

"We need the federal government to recognize the importance of the Mississippi River basin's invasive species problem and give it the attention and funding it deserves," said Bob Wakeman, the DNR's invasive species coordinator.

Read the entire story here.

More Talk of Trash, Bras, and Cleanups

 

Since the “big, black bra” story was posted on Aug. 2 (Trash Talk About Underwear and Other Things), I have been deluged with phone calls and e-mails. I'm now seeing big, black bras in my sleep.

My outsourced office staff in the Czech Republic has quit, citing “crazy Americans’ obsession with sex.”

I’ll answer two of the more common questions here, in hopes of satisfying the prurient curiosity of my readership regarding the big, black bra that I found while picking up trash.

I don’t know what size it was. The only visible tag said “Sweet Nothing,” and I was not inclined to closely examine before depositing it --- from the end of a stick --- into a trash barrel. I can confirm, however, that whatever was carried in that bra were not “sweet nothings.”

No, I did not find the matching panties--- and I do not want to imagine what they look like.

Some also focused on the message of that post --- pick up trash instead of complaining about it --- in their comments.

Here’s one response:

I enjoy all of your articles, but this one really hit home. We have an annual community cleanup on Lake Wylie.

Never found a bra but have found a female swimsuit bottom, a water heater, refrigerator, complete washer and dryer, many tires with wheels, numerous fishing items, 55-gallon drums containing who knows what, and a safe that had been stolen from a church. It was empty.

We collect literally tons of trash each year in a one-day sweep.

Many others have joined organized cleanups as well. If you want to get involved, here’s are some links to get your started.

Renew our Rivers --- Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Florida.

The Great Mississippi River Cleanup --- Minnesota to Missouri.

Missouri Stream Teams.

In little more than a decade, volunteers in Renew Our Rivers cleanups have collected 11.5 million pounds of trash!