[crossposted from bloggingformichigan.com]
Hey.
Did you know that an international registry of shark attacks lists a shark attack in Lake Michigan? No, really. According to the Global Shark Attack File some dude in Chicago was attacked by a fresh water tolerant bull shark in 1955 (click the link at the top of the text on that page to download the excel file).
Supposedly the very confused fella swam all the way up the Mississippi through the Chicago canal and into Lake Michigan where it got hungry and tried to eat somebody.
Yeah. That sort of thing should have really tipped people off to the permeability of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Maybe given them some pause to wonder what might be swimming into a previously closed ecosystem. But apparently not.
There haven't been any shark attacks or sitings since then. Though I'd almost prefer it to what's been found to have breached the (nearly worthless) electric barriers in the Chicango Sanitary and Ship Canal.
It appears Asian carp DNAhas been found "above" the barriers. And by "above" they means "past" as in On the Lake Michigan side.
This, of course, sucks.
I mean, at least sharks are easy to kill. These days scientists are trying to find ways to not accidentally kill off sharks. It really is too bad humanity can't be more targeted with its destructive nature and take out actual threats that, you know, we've known about for over a DECADE.
Asian carp pose a huge threat to the multi-billion (BILLION) dollar fishing industry in the Great Lakes and will LEVEL what's left of the Great Lakes ecosystem, teetering on the edge of a cliff as it is. As if Michigan and the Great Lakes States need another kick in the kidneys while we're hanging out here on the floor. And now it appears these fish we've known about for thirteen years have breached the barrier. And of course this is happening right when the lake sturgeon is finally making a come back.
Our nation and region's response to this threat has been pathetic. It's disheartening to know that when the chips are down and given 13 years of fore warning, our "leaders" can't pull the support, sense of urgency, or leadership ability to stop 100 pound, ravenous filter feeding carp from invading our waterways. Not to mention the ones that leap from the water and injure boaters.
We've JUST NOW resorted to poisoning areas of the canal. We've JUST NOW started talking about creating a barrier between the flooding Des Planes river and the canal to keep fish from swimming over in a flood. We've JUST NOW started to strengthen the electrical barriers.
Why these urgent measures didn't take place years ago, further up stream as the Mississippi and its tributaries were ravaged by this threat is beyond bewildering. Why Michigan's leaders had not been united in pounding the floor boards and demanding urgent Federal action for years is one more exhibit in the failure of our representatives to take their jobs and the importance of their station seriously.
Just...for the love of God, Do What's Right and don't budge. We know what happens when we can see the train coming for miles and we don't allocate the resources to deal with it. We know what happens.
There's still a chance to turn things around. It's not time to give up on trying to stop the crumbling we know is going to happen if we do nothing.
Biologist Duane Chapman knows as much about Asian carp as anyone in the United States, and he says that even though some of the giant fish apparently have breached an electric barrier protecting the Great Lakes, all is not lost.
"If a few fish get into the Great Lakes, it's not game over," said Chapman, a U.S. Geological Survey researcher who has made a career out of studying the fish on the heavily infested Missouri River.
-- Article
Fix it, reps. Just fix it.
Here, let me help: Hire thousands to do what was done in the canal...stun the fish with an electrical current, pull out the fish that aren't Asian carp, poison the river with the short lived fish specific poison rotenone, put the other fish back, and then move up stream and do it again all the way back to the Gulf.
You know...if we gave $60 billion to AIG to save their asses and the people who rely on them, we can do the same to save the Great Lakes and the people and species that rely on it.
Don't like that idea?
Then just shut down the sanitary and ship canal and pump water into the city. Close the entry completely. There. Nice and cheap. There's more money in the commercial fishing industry than we'd lose in shipping anyway. Asian carp will be a disaster to what's left of the Great Lakes ecosystem and the region's economy.