Levin: Indiana needs to take Asian carp threat seriously

Sen. Carl Levin reacted to Indiana state officials downplaying the threat of Asian carp reaching the Great Lakes after the invasive and voracious fish were found in the Wabash river by sending a letter to the governor urging him to take that threat more seriously. The Detroit News reports:

Levin, D-Detroit, sent a letter to Gov. Mitch Daniels saying he was “deeply concerned” by comments made July 2 by officials in the Indiana Department of Natural Resources after experts warned if the Wabash flooded, the fish with the voracious appetites could find their way into the Maumee River, which empties into Lake Erie…

But with the recent discovery of the carp in Indiana’s Wabash River, the threat to the Great Lakes has increased. Though not normally connected, the Wabash’s flood plain intersects with that of the nearby Maumee, which flows eastward from Indiana, through Ohio and into Lake Erie via Toledo.

If flooding were to occur — as has happened eight times in the past four years, according to Levin’s letter — the fish could make their way over to the Maumee and invade the watershed via Lakes Michigan and Erie.

Until recently, attention has focused on the Asian carp possible reaching Lake Michigan through the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal. But now experts say Lake Erie is another possible entry point for the invasive species. Biologists say that the carp would devastate the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem if they reach the Great Lakes.