St. Joseph, Mich. — Winter seldom stops the heartiest of Michigan’s fisherman from casting a line, but Don Steinmetz sees a snag on the horizon.
It’s called the Asian carp.
“I looked at photographs taken on the Illinois River, and it’s kinda scary, the numbers that are in there,” Steinmetz said.
“It’s kinda wiped out all fishing in the Illinois River along certain areas. I would just hate to see that happen to Lake Michigan.”
Many in Michigan fear the Asian carp’s voracious appetite would undercut the food chain and wipe out their fish tourism and commercial fishing industries.
Those businesses account for 50,000 jobs in Michigan and inject $4 billion a year into the state’s economy.
Scientists have yet to find an Asian carp in Lake Michigan, but biologists warn of the fishes’ inevtiable advance without the right stopgap.
“We believe that the best alternative here is to keep the carp out,” said Kelley Smith, chief of the fisheries division at Michigan Department of Natural Resources. And how we do that is the issue.”
At a packed town hall meeting in the town of St. Joseph on Thursday, concerned residents listened to the warnings of biologists who said the fish has been stop to catch in Illinois.
The biologists said the best short term fix to stop the Asian carp’s advance is to close Chicago’s locks. That’s the same position supported by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox, who is suing Illinois to mandate the shutdown.
“Anyone who cares about health of the great lakes ought to be concerned about this,” Cox said.
“It’s a shame it got in Illinois waters, but they are there, and for health of rest of the great lake states, we can’t allow them to advance any further.”
Illinois shipping and boating interests which say the lawsuit is an assault on their multi-billion dollar industries.
“Is this really about a fish or is this about political priorities,” Steinmetz said. “This is really about a fish. This is no different that how we fought invasive species the past six or seven years ”
Steinmetz said he can relate to the dilemma on the Illinois side of the lake, but he asks Chicagoans to consider the greater good of the region.
“I’m a transplant to Michigan,” he said. “So I can understand their problems with this, but there’s a lot more to this than the city of Chicago.”
On Wednesday, biologists unleashed their latest weapon against the Asian carp problem, launching what they’re calling “search and destroy” missions.
Over the next six months, Michigan’s department of resources plans to send a team to Chicago’s waterways to pitch in.
The Michigan DNR called this fight against this fish its most significant priority.
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