Asian Carp Pose Threat to Great Lakes, Inland Waterways in Michigan

It sounds like something out of a horror flick. Hundred-pound invading fish are disturbed by boat motors, making them leap up to five feet out of the water, sometimes hitting people. But it's the new reality in the Mississippi River and the Des Plaines River in Illinois. Federal politicians and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) are trying to keep these Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes and inland waters in Michigan.

Public awareness of Asian carp is increasing through media reports. On a recent fishing trip on the Shiawassee River in Fenton, Kaleb Taylor, 9, of Fenton, described seeing the fish on TV. "They were attacking people and knocking people off their boat," he said. "I watched it on the news."

His sister, Haley Taylor, 7, and father, Chad Taylor, were fishing with Kaleb. Chad Taylor hadn't heard a lot about Asian carp, but "they look pretty nasty," he said.

In the 1970s, the fish were imported into the Southern U.S. to eat algae in ponds. However, due to flooding, Asian carp escaped these ponds and began migrating. Since their escape, they've become established in the Mississippi River and the Chicago river system.

"We take it as a very serious threat to the Great Lakes," said Mary Dettloff, a spokeswoman for the Michigan DNR.

It also could affect Michigan's river system.

Dettloff said DNA testing of Lake Michigan water is taking place. Testing has detected the species' environmental DNA, or eDNA, in the water, but this doesn't mean Asian carp have reached Lake Michigan. The eDNA could have been from bilge water, for example, and not from living fish, she said.

Michigan wants complete separation of the Mississippi River watershed from the Great Lakes, Dettloff said. It's a position the federal government hasn't supported.

In 2009, Michigan's DNR supplied staff and rotenone, a naturally occurring substance toxic to most species of fish, to help kill Asian carp in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, Dettloff said. The effort was part of Michigan's response plan to keep Asian carp from the Great Lakes.

"Meanwhile, the Michigan attorney general's office is studying potential legal procedures to close the locks on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to prevent further migration of fish," the DNR website states.

"I think they should do whatever is required to keep the carp from the Great Lakes," said Michigan Sen. John Gleason (D-Flushing). "We have, literally, a billion-dollar fishing industry in our state."
Michigan has many tourists, and its marinas are filled during the summer.

"This is a very serious battle we have against that fish," Gleason said. "They're giant, and they eat a lot of the small fish that hopefully would reproduce and become game fish.

"They eat an awful lot of food every day, which is coming out of the waterway."

Asian carp are well-suited to the climate of the Great Lakes region, the DNR states in an informational pamphlet on the fish. The Great Lakes' climate is similar to that of their native region in Asia. And they favor large rivers and connecting lakes. Biologists believe Asian carp disrupt the food chain and suppress native fish such as walleye, yellow perch and lake whitefish.

Boaters can be — and have been — injured by leaping Asian carp. The fish leap high out of the water when watercraft disturb them.

"They get big," said Gleason. "If you're just out in your boat, they jump so high they actually hit the people driving the boat."

Patricia Birkholz, Gov. Rick Snyder's director of the Office of the Great Lakes, is very concerned about what's happening with Asian carp, said Gleason, who held a town hall meeting in the spring on the Asian carp issue. If they reach the Great Lakes, Asian carp could then migrate to the St. Lawrence Seaway.

"I think it's important for the citizens to write their federal officials and let them know what they think about this," he said.

To help prevent the carp from reaching the Great Lakes and other waterways, people should not dump their bait into any water body, the Michigan DNR states. Bait fish may include small Asian carp, which can be difficult to distinguish from minnows. It's illegal to dump any live bait into any water body, so fishers should dispose of any unwanted bait in the trash and not the water.

Species of Asian carp include bighead, silver and grass carp. Silver and bighead carp — which present the most severe threat to Michigan waters — have eyes that sit lower than their mouth, while grass carp have large scales that appear crosshatched.

If someone believes he or she has seen or caught an Asian carp, the DNR wants to hear about it. The DNR asks that people not release the carp. Visit michigan.gov/asiancarp to fill out an online Asian carp reporting form or call 517-373-1280.