Strategy Updated To Keep Asian Carp Out Of Great Lakes

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(Washington, DC) – Federal agencies plan to spend $57.3 million this year on preventing invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, where scientists say they could disrupt food chains and out-compete native fish. The Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee released its 2016 action plan Tuesday.

It includes stepped-up efforts to detect the presence of the aggressive fish at various life stages and development of technologies that could limit their
migration to new areas. A special focus will be the Brandon Road Lock and Dam area near Joliet, Illinois, which officials describe as a key choke point where the carp could be blocked from reaching upstream waters around Chicago that lead to Lake Michigan. Also planned is construction of a new electric fish barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

Lawmakers from both parties in Michigan have been pressuring the federal government, and specifically the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to adopt a more aggressive approach to combat the invasive carp.

The Associated Press contributed to this report