Asian Carp: An Invasive Species - Essay Example

Asian Carp are filter feeders, feeding on zooplankton, phytoplankton, and organic particles that are suspended in water columns. They have a very large filtering capacity and their maximum size can reach greater than 3 feet long and 100 pounds (Butz, pg. 20). They have been found in the Illinois River since the 1990s. The problem is that to grow to that size, they have voracious appetites. The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) have been catching them in the routine monitoring of the La Grange Reach, Illinois River since 1995 and 1998. The population has increased rapidly since 2000 and now dominates the fish community on the La Grange Reach (Sharp, pg. 42). They are in constant contest for the same feeding grounds with river fishes such as gizzard shad and bigmouth buffalo and the shad and buffalo are losing. The buffalo and gizzard are not being eaten, they continue to lose size and weight until they die so they are just being starved.

Most recently Asian Carp DNA has been found east of the Chicago lock which is just 8 miles from the entrance into Lake Michigan. There has now been a great deal of controversy over closing the Chicago lock and canal. The canal and lock manage most of the shipping business for the State of Illinois as well as the sewage from Chicago. This would lead to decreased shipping and a large loss of income for the people of Chicago and the State of Illinois but it would also affect other nearby States. The problem is that if the Carp get into Lake Michigan, there will be no control over them and the Lake could be decimated from its fish population and the commerce related to it, which is already a fragile ecosystem (Guarno, 2010). The Lakes have been a matter of ecosystem work for some years. At one point, Lake Michigan was so dirty that it was not wholly safe to eat the fish. It has taken many years and millions of dollars to clean the ecosystem up which is just beginning to thrive again.

Recently to stop the invasive species without closing the Chicago lock more than a dozen Federal, State, and Local agencies got together to do some major poisonings and held a press conference in November. Biologists fear the fish will devastate the lakes to the tune of $7 billion in the destruction of the fishery so it was allowed to dump 2200 gallons of poison in the Chicago canal. The total cost of the poison and those to perform this task was 3 million dollars. Dead fish were dragged from the water and there was only one Asian Carp among them. However, this does not mean they did not exist and that they have not reached Lake Michigan.

It is believed that they will have to adapt to the Lake because they spawn in fast-moving water but studies prove that they adapt quickly. They also have the advantage of being a non-native species in the sense that studies now show that non-native species have a better chance of surviving climate changes that are occurring because they have already adapted once. The White has held the Asian Carp Summit to deal with the fish as well as the methods of bringing non-native species of animals to the United States under any circumstances. A secondary issue that is being discussed is the fact that this species would not be moving into the Lake if man did not consistently change ecosystems to provide for themselves and the Chicago canal is an example. Though it does have fish blocks up, they may get through those and the canal is unnatural in the first place, built by man to handle the sewage from Chicago (Walsh, 2010).

The fish are also a danger to boaters which would decrease the fishing industry again. When they are startled Asian Carp jump high in the air and land wherever they land. Many boaters are injured by them. One boater tells the story of how the fish hit his throttle and before he could do anything the boat had run ashore. This issue is an issue already in the rivers and they do not want it to expand to other rivers or Lakes. 78.5 million dollars have been used to build barriers between the Chicago River and the Des Plaines River. Even that may not be effective in high water and they are looking at what else can be done there (Walsh, 2010).

In conclusion, this is another example of the many times, all over the world when a non-native species has been brought from one part of the world to another to "eradicate" or change a pest situation. In this case, they were brought here to keep the algae out of bass-growing ponds which allowed them to adapt to the United States and when they escaped they became pests themselves. Will our lesson not be learned? This one species of fish has cost millions of dollars in an attempt to eradicate and may cost many more. We brought them here and we built the extra waterways so they would thrive. Read More