Massive Asian Carp Found Near Lake Michigan

Dec. 4, 2009— -- Among a bevy of tens of thousands of dead fish, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered a single Asian Carp in an Illinois canal that leads to Lake Michigan, the largest body of fresh water in the world. Environmental officials began the largest fish kill in Illinois state history on Wednesday night, trying to keep Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes.

Scientist fear the large and voracious Asian Carp, which can eat the equivalent of 40 percent of their body weigh every day, could damage the ecosystem of the Great Lakes. The carp are also dangerous to fisherman because they can grow to 4 feet long and weigh 100 pounds, and are known for the ability to leap up to 8 feet out of the water as motor boats speed by, injuring fisherman.

The lone carp discovered just above a lock and dam in Lockport and was a 22-inch specimen, officials said.

Hoping to keep Lake Michigan safe from the fish, officials in Illinois dumped more than 20,000 gallons of a toxic chemical called rotenone into a stretch of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Lockport, Ill. Rotenone kills fish by disrupting their ability to metabolize oxygen. Officials said they had no choice but to act.

"We are all very concerned about the threat Asian carp pose to the Great Lakes," said Stacey Solano, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

Officials had feared carp could be closing in on Lake Michigan, and that's why they poisoned a 5.7-mile channel south of Chicago to keep the ailen species from passing an electric barrier that would normally hold them back. That barrier, construted by The Army Corps of Engineers in 2002 to protect the waters, was shut down for maintenance.

Environmental organizations say the carp need to be kept from crowding other species out of the Great Lakes. The fish, which make up the largest percentage of biomass in some Midwest rivers, have traveled along the Mississippi for nearly two decades. Some conservation groups say all Illinois locks and gateways leading to Lake Michigan ought to be closed.