For some reason I don't think this will do it, but give it a try. $78 million worth of something has to be better than nothing.
Plans include intermittent lock closures, which could begin by the end of April, and adding more crews to hunt down and destroy Asian carp before large numbers of them can make it into the Great Lakes.
The battery of techniques they plan to use includes sonar equipment, electro-shocking, netting, and expedited testing for carp DNA.
They'll spend $3 million to make the ugly, voracious fish attractive as fish fillets. They will also expand research on carp-specific poisons, sound barriers to deter the fish and methods to disrupt their spawning. A number of federal agencies issued a 46-page report with short and long-term plans for fighting carp as a White House summit with Great Lakes governors was under way.
Sound barriers? Going to play some Ozzy Osbourne to scare them away and stop them from spawning? And get those recipes ready too. Let's make them edible.
Governor Granholm no happy with this.
Although federal officials included intermittent lock closures-as much as three weeks per month-as a potential solution, that is not enough, said Granholm. "I think there's enough DNA evidence now to shut them down," said Granholm, who added that she does not support the idea of part-time lock closures.
Everyone and their brother is jumping on this as a campaign issue now, so expect to hear more about the carp throughout the year. It is good that they are working on other methods to combat them though, because if they are already here... |
