Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal - Asian Carp and The Canal

Asian Carp and The Canal

On November 20, 2009, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced that a single sample of DNA from Asian carp had been found above the electric barrier that had been constructed in the canal in an attempt to prevent them from migrating into the Great Lakes. The silver carp, also known as the flying carp, has migrated through the Mississippi, and could possibly make its way into the Great Lakes. The carp can grow to 50 or more pounds, and is noted for its jumping above water. Ironically, the carp were first introduced with the blessing of the EPA in the 1970s to help remove algae from catfish farms in Arkansas. The carp have escaped the farms and migrated up the Mississippi River system. They now threaten to enter the Great Lakes through the man made canal connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River water shed. The carp displace native species of fish by filter feeding and removing the bottom of the food chain for indigenous species.

On December 2, the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal closed, as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) began applying a fish poison, rotenone, in an effort to kill Asian carp north of Lockport. Although no Asian carp were found in the two months of commercial and electrofishing, the massive fish kill did discover a single carp.

On December 21, 2009, Michigan State Attorney General Mike Cox filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court seeking the immediate closure of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal to keep Asian carp out of Lake Michigan. The state of Illinois and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which constructed the Canal, are co-defendants in the lawsuit.

In response to the Michigan lawsuit, on January 5, 2010, Illinois State Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a counter-suit with the U.S. Supreme Court requesting that it reject Michigan’s claims. Siding with the State of Illinois, both the Illinois Chamber of Commerce and The American Waterways Operators have filed affidavits, arguing that closing the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal would upset the movement of millions of tons of vital shipments of iron ore, coal, grain and other cargo, totaling more than $1.5 billion a year, and contribute to the loss of hundreds, perhaps thousands of jobs. However, Michigan along with several other Great Lakes states argue that the sport and commercial fishery and tourism associated with the fishery of the entire Great Lakes region is estimated at $7 billion a year, and impacts the economies of all Great Lakes states and Canada.

On January 19, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the request for a preliminary injunction closing the canal. The United States Court of Appeals, also rejected the preliminary injunction in August 2011.