By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

WASHINGTON, D.C. — An expert on invasive species says Asian carp are already in Lake Michigan. David Lodge, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Notre Dame and director of the Center for Aquatic Conservation, testified last week before the U.S. House subcommittee on water resources and environment, along with several other experts from the Great Lakes states.

The subcommittee is looking for ways to stop the Asian carp from establishing itself in the Great Lakes system, where it could cause catastrophic environmental and economic damage. Despite the fact that the Silverhead species of Asian carp has already been detected in Lake Michigan, Lodge said that doesn’t mean the fish has established itself or that the relevant locks shouldn’t now be closed.
Lodge has been conducting studies on where the carp species, Silverhead and Bighead, have penetrated so far in the waterways near Chicago, especially the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. This includes environmental DNA (eDNA) testing of the waters, which Lodge says is a reliable way of determining if any fish of a particular species is present.

“The most troubling result is that Silverhead carp are not only at the doorstep of the lake up in Wilmette and northern Chicago, but appear to be in Lake Michigan or at least Calumet Harbor opening to Lake Michigan,” he said. “It is a numbers game. The more individual fish that swim into the lake, and the more times that happens, the more likely an invasion is to occur…

“Considering that invasion is not inevitable for either species, there is a high probability that management actions now that prevent additional Silver and Bighead carp from entering Lake Michigan could prevent population establishment.”

Rebecca Humphries, director of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment, focused on how other invasive species have damaged the Great Lakes: “Invasive species have already created havoc in the Great Lakes,” she said. “Reports indicate that the cost of biological pollution from invasive species is both massive and rising.

“In the Great Lakes, total costs for treatment and control of zebra mussels alone reach $100 million per year. The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission reports that for sea lamprey, the program requirements are on the order of $30 million per year.”

She went on to explain how quagga and zebra mussels, once they were established in Lake Huron, destroyed a vibrant salmon fishing industry, which included hundreds of charter boats, marinas and thousands of anglers along with the other economic activities they, in turn, generated.

John Rogner, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, spoke of its commitment to stop the Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes - short of closing down locks.

“Our commitment to this task has been and remains unwavering,” he said. “We have been working closely with our partner states, including Michigan and Wisconsin, and the federal agencies to develop effective control strategies.”

Del Wilkins, an executive with the Canal Barge Co., spoke on behalf of The American Waterways Operators. He said it isn’t necessary to choose between shutting down the locks and having Asian carp invade the Great Lakes.

“Proposals have been made in both legislation and litigation to close locks in the Chicago waterway system,” he said. “We strongly oppose those proposals.”

Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the subcommittee, said he is all for taking definitive steps to stop the carp, but that actions the House takes have a way of languishing in the Senate, which he described, half jokingly, as a kind of “black hole” in which things tend to disappear.