The invasive species from another land
DNA from an Asian Carp was found just seven miles from Lake Michigan and has conservationists, scientists, and federal officials on the offensive. The discovery means that the animal has gotten past the electric barriers constructed in hopes of keeping them out of Lake Michigan and could threaten the entire ecosystem of the great lake. Predatory in nature, the Asian Carp could threaten an already fragile balance in Lake Michigan and threaten disrupt a $7 million sport fishing industry.
The species was introduced in Arkansas from Asia and has already traversed the Mississippi and Illinois river on a steady course toward lake Michigan. There are four species of Asian Carp, one of them weighing near 100 lbs. and measuring four feet in length.
Federal officials are brainstorming ways to get rid of the invader and they include poison or electro-fishing for the Asian Carp, while many officials say that more than this needs to be done. Some experts are suggesting that the Illinois river is disconnected from Lake Michigan entirely in order to prevent the spread of the Asian Carp into the lake. The carp breed incredibly fast, eat a lot, and are obviously not native to the ecosystem and thus could disrupt it to catastrophic proportions. Wildlife experts and officials hope that blocking the river from Lake Michigan will be at least a temporary solution to the invasive species destroying the Lake Michigan ecosystem.
As an emergency measure, fish killing poison will be deployed into the Illinois river waterway in an attempt to stop the spread of the Asian Carp. The electrical barriers have been proven unsuccessful in keeping the carp from spreading, and it seems as though a costly severance of the waterways leading to Lake Michigan is the only way to stop the potential ecological disaster.
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