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Klobuchar Seeks Solutions to Asian Carp Threat

MN Attorney General Lori Swanson Is Also Pursuing Legal Action

July 26, 2010

MINNEAPOLIS – Standing on the banks of the Mississippi River, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar was joined today by Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson and representatives of conservation groups to highlight legislative and legal efforts to stop Asian carp from getting into Minnesota’s lakes and rivers.

“Minnesotans are proud to call our state the land of sky blue waters, but there’s no place for Asian carp in our waters, whether it’s Lake Superior or the Mississippi River” said Klobuchar.  “This invasive species will ruin the habitat of our native fish populations, and they’ll have a devastating effect on commercial and recreational fishing, tourism and boating.”

Last month, a 19-pound Asian carp was fished out of Lake Calumet, along the Chicago area Waterway System and just six miles from Lake Michigan.  The fish had apparently gotten through an electrical barrier designed to stop the species from getting through to Lake Michigan.  Asian carp have also been found in the Mississippi River as far north as Lake Pepin.

Klobuchar, who serves on the Senate Environment Committee, said that both short- and long-term solutions are needed.  In the short term, she said, there needs to be a physical barrier that will prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan.  The long-term solution will require developing new ways to permanently contain and reduce the population of Asian carp in American rivers and lakes.

Klobuchar is cosponsoring three pieces of legislation targeted at Asian carp. 

The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act, which passed the Senate last month, prohibits the importation and transportation of Asian carp in the U.S.

The Close All Routes and Prevent Asian Carp Today Act (CARP ACT) directs the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to immediately close the Chicago-area locks and canals until a permanent separation of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watershed is in place.
The Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act, introduced last month, requires the Army Corps of Engineers to expedite its feasibility study on the best way to permanently separate the Mississippi River Basin from Lake Michigan.

Earlier this month, Attorney General Lori Swanson joined four other states in filing a lawsuit against the federal government and Chicago’s water department to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. 

Like the CARP ACT, the lawsuit seeks to immediately close Chicago shipping locks and gates that could provide a pathway for the fish to enter Lake Michigan. 

 “While attention is focused right now on the Asian carp threat to the Great Lakes, we also need to stop Asian carp from moving further up the Mississippi River,” said Klobuchar.

Klobuchar noted that, just a few weeks ago, she was in La Crosse to visit the U.S. Geological Survey’s Upper Midwest Environmental Sciences Center, which is doing cutting-edge research on interventions that would specifically target Asian carp without harming other fish.  The research is supported by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which Klobuchar has helped shepherd through the Senate.

The general name “Asian carp” refers to several varieties – including bighead, grass, silver and black carp.  The invasive species disrupts the aquatic ecosystem and is seen as a major threat to native fish populations.  It is also a threat to both recreational and commercial fishing.
 
Asian carp can eat up to 40 percent of their body weight daily and they grow as large as four feet long and weigh up to 100 pounds.  The fish reproduce so quickly that they now constitute up to 90 percent of the biomass in some stretches of the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers.  The Asian carp is a spectacular jumper, able to dramatically fling its body 10 feet above the water, especially in response to noise such as from motorboats.
 
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