Invasive Carp Caught 9 Miles From Great Lakes

Invasive Carp Caught 9 Miles From Great Lakes

By Colin Dwyer

Source: The Two-Way

6/23/2017

A live Asian carp — an invasive fish so threatening to local U.S. ecosystems that officials have struggled to keep it out of the Great Lakes — has been caught 9 miles from Lake Michigan, beyond a system of underwater electric barriers.

The silver carp, one of several species of the invasive fish, was captured below the T.J. O'Brien Lock and Dam on Thursday morning "with a gill net by a contracted commercial fisher," the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee said in a statement Friday. "The silver carp was 28 inches in length and weighed approximately 8 pounds."

Kevin Irons, an official with the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, tells NPR that tests of the fish and its surrounding waters are now underway and further information will be released soon.

"There are seven species of carps native to Asia that have been introduced to the United States," explains the ACRCC, a group composed of federal and local agencies, "but only four types that are considered a threat to the Great Lakes: bighead, silver, black and grass."