Asian carp may have breached electrical barrier

The Detroit Free Press reports that there is evidence that the invasive Asian carp may have already breached an electrical barrier set up in a shipping canal in Chicago in order to keep the incredibly aggressive species from reaching the Great Lakes, where they would likely destroy the ecosystem and cause the extinction of native species.

Great Lakes advocates said today they’ve been told that DNA evidence of one species of Asian carp has been detected above the electric barrier intended to keep the fish out of Lake Michigan.

The DNA was detected in a channel that splits off the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal below Chicago, and leads to Lake Michigan, known as the Cal-Sag channel.

“That is what we understand,” said Jennifer Nalbone, director of Great Lakes United’s campaign against invasive species.

DNA testing of water samples near the electric barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal taken beyond the barrier and Lake Michigan on Sept. 23 and Oct. 1 shows the presence of Asian carp about 1 mile south of the O’Brien Lock, about 8 miles from Lake Michigan, the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies said today.

Previously, DNA of Asian carp has been found a mile below the barrier.

The Army Corps of Engineers is planning to put poison in the canal waters to kill off the Asian carp on Dec. 2, which coincides with the time when the electric barrier will be shut off for maintenance. Environmental groups are demanding that the locks on the shipping canal be closed to prevent the carp from reaching Lake Michigan.

The Free Press also has an editorial endorsing the poisoning campaign, saying that while such measures are “not something to take lightly” they are “more than justified by efforts to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.”