Expert: Asian carp fears are overblown

Konrad Dabrowski, an Ohio State University’s aquaculturist with 15 years of experience studying Asian carp, told the Columbus Dispatch that the fish will not out compete native species in the Great Lakes because the lakes do not provide good breeding conditions.

Dabrowski said that the conditions that allow carp to thrive in rivers don’t exist in the Great Lakes or its tributaries.

Will Asian carp that enter the Lakes will be able to out compete native fish?

The answer, he has concluded based on observations in numerous real-world settings and on what is known about the spawning process of the carp, is no. He writes, in fact, that the reasons both species of Asian carp can thrive in parts of the Missouri River “are precisely the same reasons why they will not flourish in the Great Lakes.”

In order to spawn successfully, Dabrowski says, water flow and temperature must be elevated to certain thresholds simultaneously. Nowhere in the Great Lakes, including the Maumee River, do such conditions line up.

Dabrowski’s opinion contradicts popular understanding that carp pose an immediate threat to the Lakes.

Hearings are set to begin today in a federal lawsuit in which Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania are suing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for failing to protect the Great Lakes from invasive carp.

The states are arguing that Asian carp are likely to become established in the Lakes and destroy the region’s 7 billion dollar fishing industry.

Asked about the recent comments by the Ohio carp expert, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment spokeswoman Mary Dettloff said, “We consider Asian Carp a major threat to the Great Lakes because of the ease of entry to the major river systems, where they could cause a great deal of damage.”

Scientists that work for the state of Michigan are blocked from discussing Asian carp because of the ongoing litigation.