Asian Carp Invasion knockin on the door

[kevheads]

All thats stopping the invasion into the Great Lakes is a electric barrier in the river in Chicago that connects the Illinois river to Lake Michigan.They prefer colder water and spawn up tributary rivers.I would hate to see in 10-20 yrs,this scene along the northshore.

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[DEADhead]

the feds just won't invest the money to put up these barriers. the MN DNR has been pushing for these barriers for years, and their requests just seem to fall upon deaf ears. I don't get it

I am aware that some of the electric barriers, though, were having problems with some of the ships enetering the locks, and there were issues of electric shocks.

[ripstick]

To me the feds main concern is the shipping. Rec. and commercial is secondary. Ihate to see what the lakes will be like in 20 yrs.

[Catfishunter]

we should do all we can to stop the spread of non-native fish, plants , and all others. ruffy in island lake?

[Northlander]

As long as these big boats make money and whine that its too expensive to treat their bilge waters nothing will happen.

Those Asian Carp look like a major pain in the rear! I wonder how long til they get into our harbors? It will happen unfortanetly.

I just dont think the people who dont live around these parts see it as important. If our waters arent important what is?

[DEADhead]

I'm not sure if Superior is fertile enough to support these carp? Forage may be an issue.

I agree that the Feds (mainly the Army Corps of Engineers) are more concerned with commerce and keeping shipping lanes. Why else would they destroy thousands of miles of fish habitat for dredging shipping lanes, and turning shore banks into conrete retaining walls? There has been some improvement in their practices in recent years, but it is way too little, too late.

At this point I'd be more concerned with these carp getting past pool 4 on the Mississippi and working there way north, even though I don't want bighead or grass carp in Superior either.

[JBMasterAngler]

I don't really know much about these electric barriers, but wouldn't that prevent the passage of all fish? It's bad enough that there are dams on the river blocking fish passage (walleye, sturgeon, catfish, etc) but wouldn't these barriers also have a negative impact on our native fish?

But yeah, it makes me sick to my stomach to see our waters get infested with a new exotic. I could never imagine what the river would be like without carp, that'd be insane! About the ruffe, I'm actually surprised that they haven't spread out more than they already are. The st. louis is THICK with them!!! Surprisingly it hasn't seemed to affect the walleye/perch fishing...yet.

[sachem longrifle]

It's almost to the point you just want to throw your arms up and say,"Just dump every Goddamn species in the world in the Great Lakes and get it over with now."

[bgreen82]

dont know if you guys have had this on here or have seen it, but i thought i'd put it on. good info about those nasty things

[DEADhead]

Quote:

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I don't really know much about these electric barriers, but wouldn't that prevent the passage of all fish?

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yeah they do block all fish. In NW MN there has been a huge effort underway to restore Lake Sturgeon to their historical range throughout the Red River drainage, an effort that has involved many dam removals/modifications. With the latest round of invasives, like the asian carp, some fisheries managers have been considering leaving the last few barriers needed for sturgeon recovery, intact, to keep these carp from migrating past them and spreading further.