The Illinois Department of Natural Resources has detected invasive carp in the Illinois River only 80 miles from Lake Michigan. That's the closest the fish are known to have gotten to the Great Lakes and hundreds were detected.
Officials from the department also suspect there could be spawning grounds closer to the Great Lake and are monitoring the area further. They say floods and water temperatures made great conditions for carp spawning.
Andrea Densham, the Director of Regional Government Affairs at Alliance for the Great Lakes, said the invasive carp would be detrimental to Great Lakes ecosystems. She said there was supposed to be a bi-partisan construction project to stop the spread of the carp happening this summer, but the US Army Corp of Engineers ordered a stop work order without explanation.
“We’ve been working with the states and federal government for years to advance this project,” she said. “One thing we would love is some more transparency and clarity on why it has paused. If there are identified challenges, it’s always helpful for any entity that’s pausing a really critically important project like this to share those. There’s been no explanation for the pause.”
Planning of the project has been going on for years. Construction on the project is seasonal and began in July but earlier this month it was paused. Those involved with the project don’t know when it will be resumed and workers on the project are stuck in limbo.
“We’re hoping they allow the hardworking workers on site to get back to work,” she said. “This is very much a seasonal project so any delays absolutely delays the extent to which the solution to prevent the carp from entering the Great Lakes can advance.”
The project uses a variety of deterrents including electrical, acoustic, and even bubble deterrents to stop the carp from moving any further upriver.
Electrical grids have been used before to keep out fish species but were found to be only part of the solution. The mix of deterrents will help increase its reliability.
The project was allotted $274 million in federal funding and $114 million in state funding to begin the first phase of construction. The project’s total cost will be around $1.15 billion dollars but the region’s fisheries are also economically important, valuing over $4 billion per year.
Densham said delaying this project puts the sensitive fisheries at risk, especially for struggling species like whitefish. Michigan’s state budget included emergency one-time funding for whitefish restoration earlier this year because the species is in a crisis situation.
“The challenges to whitefish and the fear that the whitefish might be threatened in Lake Michigan is of even greater concern when there might be the introduction of invasive carp,” she said. “We need to prevent that from happening.”
Quagga mussels, zebra mussels, and sea lamprey have already contributed to the decline of the whitefish. She said carp will eat its way up the food chain.
While grass carp have already been introduced to the Great Lakes to control algae and for nuisance plant control, only sterile grass carp can be stocked but bighead, silver, and black carp are spreading in the Mississippi River and Illinois River. These carp will threaten walleye, yellow perch, and whitefish specifically but can also change the entire ecosystem overall.
Densham said the fish also pose risks to humans.
“They’re even dangerous for anglers and families being near lakes or rivers where they are.” she said. “They’re very large, they’re very aggressive, and they can jump out of the bodies of water they’re in. They’ve been known to jump in boats.”
Densham said none of the partners on the project received any explanation or answers on why it was halted.
“We are working to understand the reasons construction has been halted on the Brandon Road Interbasin Project for federal administrative review,” Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources stated in an email. “Michigan continues to remain committed to supporting the completion of the project to protect the Great Lakes and inland lakes and streams throughout the basin from invasive carp.”
Michigan, Illinois, and the federal government all dedicated money to the project and President Trump even directed agencies to construct the project with speed and efficiency.
“What’s most frustrating is that we have no clarity for why this happened,” she said. “The workers are out there. There’s a very short window of time for us to do this kind of work and as we’re seeing more spawning events continue to happen the urgency continues to grow.”
