Mich. files suit to close waterways in carp fight

[Spiel]

Mich. files suit to close waterways in carp fight

 

 

December 22nd, 2009 / The Hamilton Spectator

 

 

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox filed a lawsuit yesterday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to close the Chicago-area locks and waterways leading to the Great Lakes to prevent invasive Asian carp from ruining the $7 billion annual fishing and tourism industry.

 

“They haven’t acted quickly enough,” Cox said of the Bush and Obama administrations and other public officials.

 

The suit’s goal is to have officials close off five river entrances to Lake Michigan — including key shipping locks — as well as to create new barriers to prevent carp escaping during flooding.

 

The suit comes after Illinois and federal authorities carried out the largest fish kill in Illinois history earlier this month in response to the discovery of Asian carp DNA just 11 kilometres from Lake Michigan. The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal and its branches link Lake Michigan and the rest of the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River basin.