Army Corps approves $778M plan to block Asian carp advance
Source: Associated Press
Army Corps approves $778M plan to block Asian carp advance
By JOHN FLESHER
May 24, 2019
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) The head of the Army Corps of Engineers has sent Congress a $778 million plan to fortify an Illinois waterway with noisemakers, electric cables and other devices in the hope that they will prevent Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, where the aggressive invaders could leave other fish with too little to eat.
Lt. Gen. Todd Semonite on Thursday approved the plan to install defenses at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, Illinois, about 40 miles from Lake Michigan. The site is a crucial choke point in an aquatic pathway between the lake and the carp-infested Illinois River.
The plan represents a compromise between proposals to erect barriers that would seal off Lake Michigan from the river and less drastic measures such as stepped-up commercial fishing.
Environmentalists and states including Michigan had argued for physical separation, while Illinois and Indiana contended that it would disrupt cargo shipping and that a Chicago-area electric barrier was keeping the carp at bay.
Although only a few live Asian carp have been found past the barrier, the fishs DNA has turned up there as recently as April, when water samples were taken from Chicagos Lake Calumet. The Corps says the leading edge of adult bighead and silver carp the most feared of several Asian species because they gorge on plankton that other fish need is about four miles from the Brandon Road complex.
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Read more: https://apnews.com/33719392b1f142688fc865d1611fd337