Asian bighead carp
Apparently the governor of Michigan is to blame for the latest bit of Asian carp hysteria.
We read with interest yesterday that the Associated Press reported “Environmentalists raised an alarm Thursday about Asian carp found spawning in the Wabash River in northern Indiana and the possibility that flooding could push them into other waterways that lead to the Great Lakes.”
Hmmmmm.
Yes, this statement is technically correct but it is a classic example of someone trying to make a mountain out of what is actually a largish gopher hole.
It seems that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm issued a statement on July 1 that included reference to a discovery that that our buddies at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources apparently didn’t want to spread across the media.
It seems that during May one of the IDNR biologists witnessed a “spawning event” near Lafayette involving silver carp. Huge shock there, since the fish have been present in the Wabash River for approximately 15 years. We remember a decade ago when fishermen began sending us questions regarding these weird jumping fish in the Wabash and lower Tippecanoe rivers.
Anyway, somewhere along the line someone decided that if these carp can somehow leap over the 91-foot-high, 6500-foot-long Roush Lake dam to reach the headwaters of the Wabash River, they might spread into the Maumee River during a flood that mingled tributaries of the two streams. The Maumee empties into Lake Michigan.
With the sudden rise of panic regarding this latest “discovery,” our DNR sent a news release pointing out that this is old news.
Make no mistake: Asian carp entering Lake Michigan would be a horrible ecological and economic blow to the region. However, it seems a little more credible to worry about the open road into the lake from the Chicago River rather than a possible James-Bond-like escape of a carp over the dam, up the headwaters, swim across a floodplain during high water then flee downriver to the big lake.
Coming soon to a theater near you: The Man with the Golden Carp.
Story Links:
Michigan Governor’s Statement
Associated Press story from Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette
IDNR Press Release
Photo: Associated Press
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Yes Virginia, there are Asian Carp in the Wabash
Posted by Brent on 7/03/10 • Categorized as WildBlog
Asian bighead carp
Apparently the governor of Michigan is to blame for the latest bit of Asian carp hysteria.
We read with interest yesterday that the Associated Press reported “Environmentalists raised an alarm Thursday about Asian carp found spawning in the Wabash River in northern Indiana and the possibility that flooding could push them into other waterways that lead to the Great Lakes.”
Hmmmmm.
Yes, this statement is technically correct but it is a classic example of someone trying to make a mountain out of what is actually a largish gopher hole.
It seems that Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm issued a statement on July 1 that included reference to a discovery that that our buddies at the Indiana Department of Natural Resources apparently didn’t want to spread across the media.
It seems that during May one of the IDNR biologists witnessed a “spawning event” near Lafayette involving silver carp. Huge shock there, since the fish have been present in the Wabash River for approximately 15 years. We remember a decade ago when fishermen began sending us questions regarding these weird jumping fish in the Wabash and lower Tippecanoe rivers.
Anyway, somewhere along the line someone decided that if these carp can somehow leap over the 91-foot-high, 6500-foot-long Roush Lake dam to reach the headwaters of the Wabash River, they might spread into the Maumee River during a flood that mingled tributaries of the two streams. The Maumee empties into Lake Michigan.
With the sudden rise of panic regarding this latest “discovery,” our DNR sent a news release pointing out that this is old news.
Make no mistake: Asian carp entering Lake Michigan would be a horrible ecological and economic blow to the region. However, it seems a little more credible to worry about the open road into the lake from the Chicago River rather than a possible James-Bond-like escape of a carp over the dam, up the headwaters, swim across a floodplain during high water then flee downriver to the big lake.
Coming soon to a theater near you: The Man with the Golden Carp.
Story Links:
Michigan Governor’s Statement
Associated Press story from Fort Wayne Journal-Gazette
IDNR Press Release
Photo: Associated Press
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