By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

EAST LANSING, Mich. — A new article coauthored by a Michigan State University professor is the latest in a discussion about whether it’s a good idea to separate the Chicago canal from Lake Michigan in order to prevent the migration of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.

The article, in the current issue of Journal of Great Lakes Research, is coauthored by Bill Taylor, a distinguished professor at MSU’s global fisheries sustainability office. The authors seek to answer arguments made by those who do not believe that cutting off Lake Michigan from the Chicago canal is either necessary or feasible.

A lawsuit by attorneys general from Michigan and several neighboring states has been asking for exactly that. The lawsuit is against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Chicago area waterway authority, which are responsible for managing the canal.

Officials from Chicago, Illinois state and representatives of Chicago shipping and tour boat companies have so far fought successfully against hydrologic separation.

Taylor writes there are four main lines of argument against hydrologic separation: the electric barriers designed to keep the fish out are working; Asian carp are already in Lake Michigan, therefore it’s too late to prevent an invasion; Asian carp will not thrive in the Great Lakes because of a lack of food and spawning habitat; and Asian carp will not do serious damage to the Great Lakes ecosystem.

On the first argument, Taylor writes the electric barrier is not 100 percent effective because the electric pulses that make up the barrier have to be relatively low in case a person falls into the canal. “The electric field near steel-hulled barges can be reduced, possibly inducing fish to remain close to the hulls to avoid shock as they transmit the electric field,” the article states.
In addition, there is only a thin strip of land that separates the Chicago canal from the Des Plaines River, and periodic flooding provides the Asian carp brief opportunities to migrate out of the canal and thus to swim beyond any electric barrier. Concrete barriers and one quarter-inch chain link fence are being erected in this area to prevent carp from swimming to the Des Plaines River when there is a flood, but this isn’t considered to be foolproof, either.
“Most experts agree that permanent solutions to block Asian carp and other harmful aquatic species from invading the Great Lakes must look beyond electrical barrier systems,” Taylor writes.

He adds an electrical barrier also doesn’t prevent the migration of other invasive species, in the form of eggs and larvae, in the other direction.
On the second argument, that Asian carp are already in the Great Lakes, he writes “only very small numbers” have been found upstream of the electric barrier and these are probably not reproducing yet.

On the third question – will Asian carp thrive in the Great Lakes? – Taylor says they will. Areas such as Green Bay, Saginaw Bay, Lake St. Clair, Western Basin Lake Erie and major tributary rivers all are favorable to Asian carp. “The Great Lakes and tributary rivers are neither too cold nor too stagnant to support Asian carp spawning,” the article reads.

On the final question, if Asian carp will harm the Great Lakes, Taylor points to other invasive species that have established there. These include the sea lamprey, alewife, quagga mussels and zebra mussels. “These invaders have seriously damaged recreational and commercial fisheries, increased costs for natural resource management, severely impacted businesses dependent on recreation, clogged water intake systems and fundamentally altered the food webs in most of the Great Lakes,” the article reads.

In the meantime, forces opposed to hydrologic separation continue to operate on the theory that steps being taken now are enough to keep out Asian carp.
“This plan represents an intensive and collaborative response to Asian carp in Illinois waters and is a key part of the Obama administration’s comprehensive and long-term strategy to protect our Great Lakes from Asian carp,” said John Goss, Asian carp director for the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
“By unifying federal and state action, conducting vigilant monitoring and developing and using cutting-edge technologies, we are ensuring the most coordinated and effective response at all levels to safeguard the health of the Great Lakes and Great Lakes communities.”

To read the article, go to http://agbioresearch.msu.edu/index.html and click on “News and Stories.”