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| Science & Technology |
| Chicago Needs $18B and 25 Years to Stop Invasive Species |
| 2014-01-09 |
| Blocking Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes could require an engineering marvel that rivals the reversal of the Chicago River more than a century ago, according to a new federal study. Among the options outlined Monday by the Army Corps of Engineers to thwart the voracious fish from spreading is permanently separating Lake Michigan from the river and its connected waterways. Such a project would restore the once natural divide between the Great Lakes and rivers southwest of Chicago that drain into the Mississippi River. I like restoring the natural way of things, if you've got the money. Especially considering the natural divide was eliminated so Chicago sewage would flow to St. Louis instead of the Lake, which was/is the source of the City's drinking water. Chicago blasted through that hydrological barrier when it dug the Sanitary and Ship Canal and Cal-Sag Channel at the turn of the last century to divert the region's sewage away from its source of drinking water. It also created a shipping link between two of the nation's major trade routes. St. Louis, Memphis, Vicksburg, and New Orleans (and many others) got the poopy end of that deal. Get. Present tense. Two years in the making, the study comes amid a series of alarming findings that raise the possibility it might be too late for new federal action to stop Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes and threatening the region's $7 billion fishing industry. Hmmm... $7 billion income divided into $25 billion cost... factor in union jobs, and the presidential legacy... Don't forget the envelopes filled with unmarked bills for all the pols... For many who have followed the issue closely, the findings confirmed their worst fears about Asian carp, which were imported to the United States in the 1970s to help fish farmers in the South clean algae from their ponds. The fish escaped during floods and have been eating their way up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers for years. Spawning populations are as close as 40 miles from where the Sanitary and Ship Canal spills into the Des Plaines River and flows into the Illinois River. Maybe the current freezing cycle of man-made global warming/climate change will stop the bad fishies. The upper end of the Great Lakes can get a bit nippy in the winter. With the Corps scheduling a series of public hearings around the region, the long-simmering and still-unresolved debate likely makes it more difficult for Congress to reach a consensus about what to do next. Took a lot of nerve for the reporter to mention Congress and consensus in the same sentence. It's easy to solve this problem, as the Instapundit has noted before: find a way to make the carp tasty. Market forces will solve the problem to the point that the EPA will eventually have to declare the carp an endangered species. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #28 Pappy! |
| Posted by: gorb 2014-01-09 23:45 |
| #27 Groan |
| Posted by: KBK 2014-01-09 23:17 |
| #26 They're smarter and tougher than native fish. Their GPA is higher. In fact, recently a fisherman lost his billfold and when he found it, these fish were passing it around; might say they had carp-to-carp walleting.... |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2014-01-09 21:21 |
| #25 If there is GIVERnment money to be had by the unions then there will be an Asian fish farm in the Chicago area very soon. This fish eradication program will grow larger and larger and the fish will never go away. |
| Posted by: Airandee 2014-01-09 20:58 |
| #24 Mass harvest, wood chipper, compost, = fertilizer for farms nearby. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2014-01-09 19:36 |
| #23 Yeah bit 20 minutes after you eat one your hungry again. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2014-01-09 18:36 |
| #22 They're Asian Fish, Shipman. They're smarter and tougher than native fish. Their GPA is higher. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-01-09 18:15 |
| #21 This country used to could handle a 10 billion unit pigeon problem in 80 years, now we can't handle some damn fish? WTF? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2014-01-09 16:14 |
| #20 #15 - 1.4 million other fish have signed up to die. Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-09 13:46 ...Obamacare(TM) for fishies..? |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-01-09 16:01 |
| #19 Chicago Needs $18B to shore up their finances and Invasive Species species are going to get the blame for the cost and 25 years is long enough theat people will forget. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-01-09 15:17 |
| #18 Unleash...The Dream Catcher! |
| Posted by: swksvolFF 2014-01-09 15:06 |
| #17 Yeah, I remember the Lamprey Eel. It was well before the Y2K bug, but just as bad! Did they take over the Great Lakes? |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-01-09 14:58 |
| #16 A video showed a commercial fisherman in about a 22 foot low side boat pull in 28.000lb + carp in a KY lake in two days. This is a disaster waiting to happen and must be addressed before the carp get to the Great Lakes. Much worse than the Lamprey Eel. Although, I understand people like The Champ really like to eat carp and that could be the solution. This could be The Champs signature accomplishment during his administration. |
| Posted by: Thrusomble White6103 2014-01-09 14:21 |
| #15 While "scores" of fish were killed, only one carp was found, nearly six miles below the electronic barriers.[34] The fish kill cost $3 million and produced 90 tons of dead fish. 1.4 million other fish have signed up to die. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-09 13:46 |
| #14 While "scores" of fish were killed, only one carp was found, nearly six miles below the electronic barriers.[34] The fish kill cost $3 million and produced 90 tons of dead fish. 1.4 other fish have signed up to die. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-09 13:45 |
| #13 Chicago Needs $18B and 25 Years to |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-01-09 13:43 |
| #12 In the first week of December, 2009, the Army Corps made plans to shut down one of the electric barriers for maintenance, and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources responded by dumping 2,200 gallons of the toxin rotenone into the canal. Rotenone, the report said, is deadly for fish, but not harmful to humans, animals or most other aquatic life. While "scores" of fish were killed, only one carp was found, nearly six miles below the electronic barriers.[34] The fish kill cost $3 million and produced 90 tons of dead fish. Seems like some agencies have entirely too many resources available. What did it cost to clean up 90 tons of dead fish? Your tax dollars at work! Apparently, the big fear (Wikipedia) is if these guys get to Lake Erie, they'd take over. Maybe Detroit could eat 'em all up first. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2014-01-09 13:26 |
| #11 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-09 13:14 |
| #10 So... nice ecosystem you have in da Lakes... be a Real Shame if something happened to it. |
| Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain 2014-01-09 13:01 |
| #9 Apparently there are many types of Asian Carp, they're kinda easy to catch and it seems as if they are really good to eat. What is the problem? Seine, freeze and ship to Japan to save the whales! |
| Posted by: Skidmark 2014-01-09 12:56 |
| #8 Some thoughts on invasive species and conservation in general: - 99.999% of everything that has ever lived on this planet is now extinct. - Everything alive on the planet today will go extinct with the possible exception of humans and whatever we decide to take with us. - Every species alive today was at one time invasive. - The very concept of conservation, keeping things the way they are right now, is diametrically opposed to the natural order. This is not an argument for slaughtering the pandas. It is instead an acknowledgement of the reality that something which only eats bamboo might be cute but won't make it in the long run unless humans decide to intentionally thwart mother nature. |
| Posted by: Iblis 2014-01-09 12:34 |
| #7 Chicago Needs $18B and 25 Years to Stop Invasive Species He and his angry wife have already moved to D.C. Problem solved. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-01-09 12:17 |
| #6 They will not let Chinatown restaurants use the carp from the river. Instead they need to import it from fricking China. Another case where two by fours need to be used on government workers brains. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-01-09 12:11 |
| #5 The fish and game commission could just let the Chinese community and Chinatown fish for carp without limits! Seriously... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2014-01-09 12:10 |
| #4 "It seemed like a good idea at the time..." |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-01-09 12:04 |
| #3 The fish escaped during floods and have been eating their way up the Mississippi and Ohio rivers for years. Nobody at the time considered the possibility that might happen, huh? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-01-09 11:55 |
| #2 ...rebrand them as "Northern Illinois Whitefish" and Mickey D's, etc. might find a use for 'em... |
| Posted by: Uncle Phester 2014-01-09 11:53 |
| #1 (Scream) "IT MIGHT BE TOO LATE", so throw money at it, until we run out of your cash.. They're only fish we brought to America as ballast in ship's hulls, SO IT'S NOT "OUR" FAULT, YOU TAKE CARE OF IT. |
| Posted by: Redneck Jim 2014-01-09 11:47 |