It is a very scary thought to consider that our world class Steelhead & Salmon fisheries could be a distant memory if the Asian Carp situation continues much more upstream.  More evidence has been found to link the Asian carp even closer to the Lake Michigan this week.  Michigan is taking a stand against this & trying to protect our Sport fisheries.

Please visit http://www.stopasiancarp.com/index.html & sign the petition to immediately require the U.S. Army Corps to close the locks connecting Chicago’s carp infested waterways with the Great Lakes to prevent Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan and the other Great Lakes.  By signing this petition you are doing your part in helping to keep our Great Lakes fisheries strong!

Michigan Trout Unlimited urges the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of the State of Michigan’s (and Wisconsin’s, Minnesota’s, Ohio’s, New York’s and Ontario’s) request for preliminary injunctive relief to protect the Great Lakes‘ coldwater trout fisheries from the Asian Carp (bighead and silver carp).

Contrary to arguments made by State of Illinois and the Obama Administration in response to Michigan’s legal action, the threat posed by Asian Carps to the Great Lakes economy and its coldwater trout fisheries is real and grave. In fact, the opinion of the U.S EPA is that, ” Asian Carp are a significant threat to the Great Lakes because they are large, extremely prolific, and consume vast amounts of food. They can weigh up to 100 pounds, and can grow to a length of more than four feet.  According to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, Asian Carp “are well-suited to the cold water climate of the Great Lakes region, which is similar to their native Eastern Hemisphere habitats. It is expected that they would compete for food with the valuable sport and commercial fish. If they entered the system, they would likely become a dominant species in the Moreover, according to the Illinois DNR, once they are in the Great Lakes, the Asian Carp will be difficult to control. Asian Carp were released into the Mississippi River in the 1970s from catfish farms that were using them to clean up their ponds. Since that time the carp migrated northward into the Illinois River – undeterred by the colder northern conditions. Had Illinois not illegally created the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in the late 1800s, diverting water from Lake Michigan and connecting the Mississippi River to the Great Lakes via the Illinois River, Asian Carps would not pose the threat to the Great Lakes it does today.