Chicago Sun Times:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1726117,CST-NWS-carp20.article
No fish story: This carp could eat up Lake Michigan
'AT THE GATE' | Electronic barriers strengthened after DNA of destructive species found near Romeoville
August 20, 2009
BY MAUREEN O'DONNELL Staff Reporter/modonnell@suntimes.com
Evidence of the dreaded Asian carp has been found in waters five miles from a Romeoville barrier that is the only thing keeping the eco-terror from getting into Lake Michigan, officials say.
And the Army Corps of Engineers is turning up the juice on the electric barrier as a result.
"They're at the gate now," said Marc Gaden, a spokesman for the Great Lakes Fishery Commission. "The barrier is the only thing that stands between the carp and Lake Michigan . . . this is the closest we've seen."
Ecologists fear that the carp, which can grow to 100 pounds and up to 4 feet long, could devastate sport and commercial fishing in the Great Lakes.
The voracious eaters feed on the low end of the food chain -- like plankton. They wind up squeezing out other fish that bigger fish feed on. Able to leap up to 10 feet out of the water, the carp can also startle fishermen and water-skiers.
A new CSI-style test detected the DNA of the invasive fish.
In June, the Army Corps of Engineers hired the University of Notre Dame to conduct DNA research near electronic anti-carp barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal near Romeoville. The canal is the only continuous, direct connection between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River -- and the carp are thriving in parts of the Mississippi, said Lynne Whelan, a spokeswoman for the Army Corps of Engineers.
The DNA testing, developed by a team headed by Notre Dame Professor David Lodge, can detect species-specific, trace amounts of mucus, urine and feces, Whelan said. "They describe it to me very much as you see on 'CSI,'" she said.
"He can actually pick up the DNA of certain fish species," Gaden said. "They were looking for DNA of Asian carp, and they found it."
Preliminary results, out at the end of July, detected the DNA of the Asian silver carp only five miles from the barriers, Whelan said.
"These carp can migrate that much, easily, in a day," Gaden said.
"Asian carp were closer to the Great Lakes than previously thought," the Army Corps of Engineers said in a statement. "Once Asian carp reach the barrier, it . . . increases the threat of Asian carp invasion into the Great Lakes to the highest level."
Of 21 samples taken near the locks near Romeoville, 12 were positive for silver carp, Whelan said.
Based on the results, the Army Corps of Engineers has increased the voltage, pulsing and frequency of the electronic barrier, Whelan said. It repels fish but doesn't kill them, she said.
The Asian carp escaped from fish farms in the South after flooding in the early '90s, Gaden said. "They've been making their way northward ever since."
Another worry: Asian silver carp often jump out of the water when startled. Their acrobatics have caused "broken noses and necks wrenched out of joint," Gaden said.
"They leap as high as 10 feet above the water," he said, "so just imagine if you were a boater, or water-skier, or jet-skier and these 30-pound carp leap out. Do the math with the physics there, and you're not going to win that one."
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