Please join key Great Lakes organizations for a webinar update about current activities aimed at preventing the transfer of Asian silver and bighead carp from the Mississippi River Basin to the Great Lakes. The webinar/briefing will be on Wednesday, October 14 at 2 PM ET. You can RSVP here.
Invasive Asian carp remains one of the largest threats to the health of the Great Lakes ecosystem.
The introduction of Asian carp to the Great Lakes would greatly endanger the $7 billion fishery that helps fuel the region’s economy. These invasive species pose a significant threat to existing native fish populations, while also creating a dangerous safety risk to recreational boaters and other users of the Great Lakes, and thus would have a devastating impact on the region. In response to the threat, federal, state, local, and nongovernmental organizations have been crafting a multifaceted strategy to prevent the spread of invasive carp into the Great Lakes, especially through the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS). Among the structural and non-structural strategies that need to be continually developed and adopted are new barriers and deterrents at sites like Brandon Road Lock and Dam, increased monitoring resources, increased commercial and contract fishing, and increased research into both the biology of Asian carp and new technologies that can prevent their movement upstream.
In addition to discussions about the ongoing activities to prevent the introduction of Asian carp into the Great Lakes and future actions that need to be taken, the webinar will also include a short film produced by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) focused on the various impacts that invasive Asian carp pose to tribal, business, fishing, and economic interests, as well as to the quality of life – not only in the Great Lakes, but throughout the Mississippi River Basin. This video is a segment of a larger film that will be released October 15th.
Participating organizations include:
- The Northeast-Midwest Institute
- The National Wildlife Federation
- The Alliance for the Great Lakes
- The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Legislative Caucus
- The Great Lakes Fishery Commission
Key topics to be discussed include:
- Overview of the impact of Asian carp on key waterways:
- NWF’s Asian carp film, as presented by Detroit TV’s Great Lakes Now; and
- Overview of Brandon Road Lock and Dam project.
- Current status of federal and local efforts to combat Asian carp:
- Water Resources Development Act (WRDA);
- Brandon Road Design Plan and the Preconstruction, Engineering, and Design (PED) phase; and
- Recent developments at the state and local level for Brandon Road.
- Key steps moving forward:
- Continued support for Brandon Road authorization in WRDA;
- Continued support of key authorizations; and
- Increased dialogue between federal, state, local, and nongovernmental stakeholders and decision makers moving forward to combat the regional and national problem of Asian carp and aquatic invasive species.
Again, to register for the webinar, please click here. If you have any questions, please email Matt McKenna at mmckenna@nemw.org.