On Sept. 8, 2008, Seth Russell, a 15-year-old boy from Arkansas, went out tubing with his family on Lake Chicot in Arkansas. According to associatecontent.com, Russell was having a fantastic time until he collided with a fish—specifically, an Asian silver carp. His mother said he does not remember a thing from the incident; the impact was so great that the carp was killed, and Russell went to the hospital with a broken jaw, broken teeth and whiplash.
Asian carp are responsible for countless injuries every year, and it's only a matter of time before a death is recorded. They are a species notorious for their escape instincts. When they hear a boat propeller nearby, their first reaction is to jump, often straight into the body of an angler or recreational boat user. Ferocious flying fish are no laughing matter, as these bad boys can grow up to 100 pounds. A couple ibuprofen pills aren't going to fix that headache. Asian carp pose serious health concerns for unwary boatmen.
Asian carp found their way into the Mississippi River basin in the 1960s when they were used by catfish farmers to keep ponds clear of algae. When flooding occurred, the carp scattered and eventually discovered that North America's largest river was a fantastic home. They've been heading upriver ever since, and are now as far north as Illinois, terrorizing ecosystems and tourists.
These guys are even more threatening to aquatic ecosystems than human safety. The carp is an extremely prolific Asian species which is too much for Wisconsin fish to handle. They eat up to 40 percent of their body weight in algae and plankton per day, completely knocking out the bottom level of the food chain. That makes it difficult for game fish to survive as fingerlings. Carp are bottom feeders that destroy existing vegetation populations and stir up mud, making the water murky, obliterating spawning habitats and depleting water oxygen levels. They can survive almost anything short of nuclear radiation; it wouldn't be a surprise if they outlasted cockroaches and Twinkies. To put the icing on the cake, they multiply at ridiculous rates. In short, Asian carp are a North American fish's worst nightmare.
Why should Wisconsinites be concerned about fish in other states? Because Asian carp are approaching extremely fast. It may not be long before the Wisconsin River could be renamed the Flying Fish River. Even more disturbing to ecologists, scientists, fishermen and anyone else who gives a hoot about the environment is the threat to one of the world's most important natural resources: the Great Lakes. The Illinois River is one of the most infamous hangouts for Asian carp, and it just so happens to be connected to Lake Michigan via the Chicago Area Waterway System.
The CAWS is a canal system created in the 1900s to connect the Mississippi River watershed to the Great Lakes for shipping purposes, and to that effect, it does a fine job. However, ships aren't the only thing transferring watersheds. The CAWS provides a fantastic pathway for invasive species like Asian carp.
Scientists predict nothing short of disaster would result from this new strain of carp proliferating in Lake Michigan. According to the Time Magazine website, Asian carp could take out the bottom level of the Great Lakes ecosystems by eating plankton. This could potentially starve out entire populations of trout, perch and other naturally reproducing species. Obviously, this would be devastating to all life forms that call the big ponds home and it could also destroy a $7 billion commercial fishing industry, not to mention the billions of dollars in tourism the Great Lakes provide the Midwest. Asian carp could destroy Wisconsin's ecosystem by the time current UW Madison students are old farts—maybe even before that.
The state of Illinois and the Army Corps of Engineers have taken action, installing electric barriers in the CAWS. Such a project carries a hefty price tag—around $78.5 million just for the most recent project. However, there is speculation that barriers could be bypassed if the water is high. According to ""Progress Illinois,"" doubters of the electric barrier system were indeed proven correct when a 20-pound Asian silver carp was found in June 2010 past the barriers in Lake Calumet, a mere six miles from Lake Michigan. Truly, the situation is nothing short of an emergency.
For the good of the Great Lakes and the Midwest, the canal system must be shut down temporarily until a solution is discovered. The fact that the watersheds of the Mississippi and the Great Lakes are connected is extremely dangerous for both systems, and it must be stopped. The Wisconsin D.N.R. states there is a lawsuit pending against the city of Chicago to force them to shut down the lochs. Similar action is already being taken in Michigan. The state of Illinois is opposed to such regulation because it could hurt the shipping industry. Although this is unfortunate, a short-term shipping problem is worth providing a long-term environmental solution. The electric barriers in and of themselves are not completely effective. To save the Great Lakes, the economy,and the recreationalists of Wisconsin, CAWS must be shut down until an effective solution to the Asian carp problem can be found.
Donnie Radcliffe is a freshman majoring in biomedical engineering. Please send all feedback to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
