Asian carp have come closer, closer to Great Lakes

An Asian carp, right, was netted last Tuesday in Lake Calumet, below, a short distance by water from Lake Michigan (upper right corner of photo). The catch renewed fears that the voracious fish will destroy the $7 billion sportfishing industry of the Great Lakes. The 20-pound male carp "was the first to be found north of an electrical barrier installed to block their path, after a months-long search and two multimillion-dollar mass fish-poisonings turned up nothing but a lot of dead fish and some floating DNA evidence, reports Paul Quinlan of Environment & Energy News (subscription required).

The news "prompted Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) to call a hearing of the Energy and Natural Resources' Water and Power Subcommittee for [2:30 p.m.] Thursday to discuss what the federal government is going to do," Quinlan reports. "Last week's discovery was not enough to persuade the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to close the two navigational locks or alter any immediate plans for containing the fish." The corps essentially said the finding of one fish would not justify the disruption to shipping, reports Shawn Allee, who covers the Chicago area for Michigan Radio. Listen to his story.