Editorial: Asian Carp: Proposed Solutions Demand Good Analysis

The effort to solve the Asian carp woes on the Illinois River remains intense and divisive. The basic problem is simple and remains clear. The carp in the Illinois River are threatening to pollute the Great Lakes with their presence. Aside from that, one proposed solution is presently causing the ruckus.

Basically, the state of Michigan, joined by Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio and Pennsylvania, are asking the Supreme Court to shut down river locks to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan. The U.S. Supreme Court has refused their pleas twice, and now they are going at it a third time (see WJ story on Page 3). The new lawsuit accuses the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago of operating a public nuisance—i.e. the locks.

The main thrust of the lock-closure proposal is that the Great Lakes’ estimated $7 billion commercial and sport fishing industry will be destroyed if Lake Michigan is overrun with Asian carp. But from what we have read, it would take years for the carp invasion to cause that kind of devastation to the fishing industry. In this case, time is the key element.

For those who are not water transportation supporters, forgive us for standing staunchly behind the viewpoint that closing the locks is not a guarantee that Michigan will be protected. What is almost certainly guaranteed, if locks are closed suddenly, is that the economy of the region will be devastated almost as suddenly.

Needless to say, we applaud the Supreme Court for twice not choosing to close the locks in response to a panic attack that calls for radical but unpromising results. We hope that before this column is read, the court will have reiterated its stand.

What we are suggesting is that other solutions may be in order; some have already surfaced. Perhaps suggested cures will not do the job all by themselves, but a combination of actions might ease the problem considerably. In any case, the powers that be would be prudent to study each proposed solution for long-term, perhaps unintended results.

One possibility surfaced in the news last week. As the WJ reported, Illinois is entering a partnership to harvest up to 30 million pounds of Asian carp for marketing by a Chinese company. The hope is that such activity will diminish the threat against the ecosystem of the Great Lakes and its fishing industries.

Remember when someone fictitiously suggested that turning the carp into a delicacy might solve the problem? Gov. Quinn was reported as saying, “If you can’t beat them, you eat them.” It indicates that the governor was listening. Even though they say there is little chance that the carp can be fished out completely, “it may be possible to make a dent in their population.”

Let us not forget the axiom that “One man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” Many people wouldn’t eat opossum but some do. Many people don’t like frog legs but many do.

We wrote earlier that time is the important factor. Slowly reducing the presence of Asian carp by moving them to the dining room table buys time. It slows down the devastating impact of carp, which devour plankton needed by other, more-desirable fish.

Fish removed from the Illinois River are also being turned into fertilizer. A report out of Morris, Ill., indicates that fish being removed from the river there are not sold as food but end up with a Northwest Illinois fishery, which has agreed to process them as fertilizer. This, too, is helpful. And perhaps the fertilizer industry and commercial fishermen will benefit greatly before it is all over.

Department of Natural Resources employees often discuss stunning fish electronically, after which they rise to the surface where they can be harvested. A marriage between DNR personnel and commercial fishermen seems a plausible solution to fish removal, at least to some degree. Sell oversized “stun guns” to the fishermen. A tax on sports fishing could help finance this kind of insurance.

We suggest that dog- and catfood producers might also have use for Asian carp to the degree that they could buy all the fish commercial fishermen could deliver.

To be sure, the threat to Great Lakes fisheries is real and not contested. No one takes it lightly. But it is prudent, we think, for those who are trying to rid the rivers and lakes of Asian carp to keep open minds about solutions other than closing locks.

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