Environment & Climate Change

A bighead carp at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

Asian carp have been making their way up the Mississippi River system for years after escaping from fish farms and wastewater treatment ponds in the southern U.S.They’re knocking on the door of the Great Lakes, and a number of people are concerned about what could happen if carp become established in the region.In this five-part series, we’ll take a look at what officials are trying to do to keep the fish out, what might happen if carp get in, and why some people want to turn carp into a business opportunity.

Latest search fails to find Asian Carp in Illinois lake which is a short distance from Lake Michigan

Michigan Public | By Steve Carmody

Published July 16, 2012 at 7:19 PM EDT

Another search of a lake close to Lake Michigan has failed to find Asian Carp. The invasive carp could threaten native Great Lakes fish populations.

Fishermen spent three days last week sweeping a six mile stretch around Lake Calumet, near Chicago. The result: 6,300 fish caught, 30 different species, but no Bighead or Silver carp.

It’s the second time this year that teams led by the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and other agencies, have scoured the waterway looking for Asian carp.

Neither search turned up any carp. The searches were prompted by the discovery of carp eDNA in the lake, which is beyond electric barriers downstream. Those barriers are intended to prevent the carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

A spokesman for the Illinois DNR says the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee will continue to use the eDNA test as an early warning signal, even though the positive tests may be linked to boats dumping bilge water from carp infested waters downstream and not from live Asian carp.