Three's a Charm? Michigan Joins Other States to Stomp Out Asian Carp

Can a judge's gavel help stomp out Asian carp, the voracious invasive that's creeping ever closer to our Great Lakes? 

Maybe. If nothing else, news that another court case has been filed in the ongoing battle against the fish should help keep the issue on the front burner. 

Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota and Pennsylvania filed suit in an Illinois district court Monday, seeking to force the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago to close shipping locks that provide a path for the fish to enter the Great Lakes. The suit also calls for a physical separation of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds. The U.S. Supreme Court has twice denied similar requests from Michigan and other states.

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, also has called for a physical separation of the watersheds. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Asian carp threatens to decimate a $7 billion sports fishery in the Great Lakes. One species of the fish, a bighead carp, has already been caught six miles from Lake Michigan.

What will it take before real action is taken on this issue? A lake full of Asian carp? We hope not. 

Image Credit: FBI.