Bass Fishing

U.S. Supreme Court revisiting carp issue

http://www.detnews.com/article/20100319/METRO/3190420/1409/rss36

Last Updated: March 19. 2010 1:07PM

U.S. Supreme Court revisiting carp issue
Nathan Hurst / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington -- The Supreme Court is expected to decide today whether it'll take up Michigan's request to immediately close a series of Chicago-area locks that connect the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds.

The high court rejected an earlier plea from Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox to have the locks closed to prevent the invasive Asian carp from reaching the lakes. Experts say the fish, which have voracious appetites and leap out of the water -- causing injuries to boaters, in some cases -- could quickly take over the fragile freshwater ecosystem.

The governors of Illinois and Indiana have opposed Michigan's request, saying closure of the locks would adversely affect Chicago's shipping industry and cause potential flooding issues for suburbs on the south side of the Windy City.

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The Supreme Court can take one of the three actions today: It could decline to hear the case, grant Michigan's request for an injunction to close the locks or appoint a "special master" for the case that would investigate the matter further. A decision will be announced Monday.

On Thursday, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, said she hoped the Supreme Court would take up the case, saying that the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency responsible for devising and implementing methods of keeping the carp from invading the lakes, was taking too long to find a permanent solution.

In January, the White House announced a plan to keep the fish out of Lake Michigan using a combination of poisoning and building electric fish barriers. But experts have been concerned those methods may not be enough after carp DNA was found in Calumet Harbor, a Lake Michigan inlet near downtown Chicago.

That plan doesn't allow for an immediate closure of the locks and canals in Chicago.

But late last month, the Great Lakes Commission issued a recommendation that the Mississippi River and Great Lakes watersheds be permanently separated, though the report from the coalition of eight states surrounding the lakes didn't say how or when that should happen.

Stabenow said that agreement was a step, but left too much open in the short-term that might allow an invasion to occur.

nhurst@detnews.com (202) 662-873

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20100319/METRO/3190420/1409/rss36#ixzz0im...