Urge Congress to support Asian carp barrier legislation

Forget the funny-looking videos of fish flying into boats and whacking people on the head. Asian carp are an increasingly serious issue needing our attention.

Take action:

  1. Call your U.S. Representative and Senators today. The Capital switchboard will connect you to your member of Congress: (202) 224-3121.
  2. Tell them the Asian carp will destroy the Great Lakes. Urge members of the House of Representatives to support the Great Lakes Asian Carp Barrier Act of 2007. Urge Senators to support the Barrier Project Consolidation and Construction Act of 2007.

More details: Urge Congress to support Asian carp barrier legislation
By Melissa Malott

Asian carp, an invasive species, are moving up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers toward the Great Lakes. Asian carp are dangerous. They have already sent many Illinois boaters to the hospital because they leap into the air at the sound of a passing boat motor. Furthermore, Asian carp are voracious filter feeders that could destroy the $4 billion recreational fishery in the Great Lakes. Since invading the Illinois River, nine out of ten fish are Asian carp.

Currently, there is an electric barrier preventing the carp from moving up the Illinois River into the Great Lakes; however, this last line of defense for the Great Lakes needs funding to keep working. The U.S. Congress has introduced much-needed legislation to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. This legislation authorizes the completion of an electronic barrier to keep the Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. The threat to our family experiences like fishing and boating on the Great Lakes is enormous. Forget cutting your feet on zebra mussels; imagine having your teeth knocked out after getting clobbered by a flying 40-pound Asian carp. And the fragile Great Lakes ecosystem will receive the ultimate knockout blow when the voracious filter feeders literally suck the life out of the lakes.

Unless we invest in a solution today - and the electronic barrier is a good one - the price we will pay tomorrow will be much higher and future generations may never experience the Great lakes as we know them. Congress must authorize and fully fund the barrier.