Single Asian carp found in Chicago-area fish kill
LOCKPORT, Ill. (AP) — Wildlife officials discovered a single Asian carp Thursday in a canal leading to Lake Michigan, the nearest the destructive species has come to the Great Lakes, Illinois environmental officials said.
Environmentalists fear that if the silver or bighead species of giant Asian carp reach the lakes they could starve out native fish species and devastate a $7 billion-a-year fishing industry.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials found the 22-inch immature specimen among tens of thousands of dead fish identified in a fish kill operation in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, about 40 miles from Lake Michigan, said John Rogner, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.
“Asian carp are indeed knocking on the door of the Great Lakes,” Rogner said “This is the closest to Lake Michigan that an actual Asian carp body has been found.”
Ten of thousands of other species of fish, from gizzard shad to drum, floated to the surface of the waterway Thursday after authorities dumped more than 2,000 gallons of toxins into a nearly six-mile stretch of the waterway the evening before.
Dec 4, 2009 at 1:55 p.m.
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Hmmm, getting rid of the garbage eaters!
Dec 4, 2009 at 1:20 p.m.
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The chemical used to kill the fish only lasts for a matter of hours. Within the day, it had already lost it's toxicity.
Dec 4, 2009 at 12:34 p.m.
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One carp, two carp, dead carp
Shoo, carp!
Dec 4, 2009 at 11:16 a.m.
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Do you really believe there are no asian carp in Lake Michigan, people release fish everyday and believe some moran has already dumped them in the lake.
Dec 4, 2009 at 11:14 a.m.
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Well if any of you scientist have ever been to chicago you will know they have the worlds best water filtration system. It is called the Chicago Sanitary District you should go there sometime it is located on 39th street and Austin blvd they will take you on a tour a give you a glass of water to drink that 24 hours earlier you flushed it down your toilet. believe me unlike wisconsin they do know what they are doing. And another thing wisconsin gets drinking water from the lake as well.
Dec 4, 2009 at 10:55 a.m.
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Well, if they reversed the reversal, it would not draw water from the Mississippi basin. The Chicago River itself is not very long. But it is not true that the canal is no longer used for sanitary purposes. Chicago treats its water per modern standards but the discharge is still sent down the canal to the Illinois River. The Deep Tunnel project is being built just so that Chicago's treated sewage will not contaminate the lake during heavy rainfall.
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One Asian carp is significant in that previous surveys (not involving a kill) found only its DNA (uh, fish poop). So now there are enough to show up during a kill of 2000 fish (which is not very many, the annual Great Lakes fish harvest is measured in kilotons). But the Asian carp has shown itself capable of displacing native species over time and they will probably eventually dominate the lakes once enough of them get in.
Dec 4, 2009 at 8:50 a.m.
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This river is one of only a few in the world where the flow was permanenetly reversed. Imagine what it would be like if they returned it back to it's original flow direction. It is also one of the only rivers allowed to remove water from the Great Lakes basin. Chicago no longer uses the river for sanitary purposes; the reason it had the flow reversed initially. This fish kill seems extreme if only one carp was found from all of this. There has to be less toxic approach to this issue.
Dec 4, 2009 at 2:59 a.m.
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The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal as well as the Chicago River, flow away from Lake Michigan, and access to Lake Michigan for ships is via a set of locks in downtown Chicago. If the carp were allowed to live in the canal or the river, it is possible they could migrate into the lake via the locks.
Dec 4, 2009 at 12:08 a.m.
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zythia13, they used rotenone, a chemical toxic only to fish.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/19132...
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Fish kills are frequently used to control invasive species. Since the entire Great Lakes system is at risk -- the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world -- drastic measures were required. The Asian carp is expected to severely impact the sport and commercial fish populations and at present exclusion is the only available option.
Dec 3, 2009 at 11:18 p.m.
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Good job, guys. You got him. Tens of thousands or other fish were killed, but you have to expect a little collateral damage. Doesn't Chicago get drinking water out of Lake Michigan?
There may be a little less congestion on I-90 next summer.
Dec 3, 2009 at 10:33 p.m.
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Maybe I don't understand this fully, but.. which is more disturbing: the carp's potential destruction if it makes it to lake Michigan or the 2,000 gallons of toxins that they dumped into water that flows into lake Michigan for a "fish kill?"
Dec 3, 2009 at 10:20 p.m.
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How do they know it was a single Asian carp? No wedding ring?
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