Respected in Asia for their power and strength, Asian carp in the United States are considered pests.
Carp image: Leaping Carp by Ohara Koson, Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. Great Lake Boater poster: Glogster user nyekaitl.
Lakes and rivers are ecosystems of great importance to society, for everything from drinking water and transportation to fishing, recreational boating, swimming, and enjoyment of their beauty. The
Mississippi River and the Great Lakes basins—home to one-third of the U.S. population—have recently

been invaded by several species of plants and fish. Of all of the nuisance species, the Asian carp invasion seems to worry people the most, as these fish compete with native species for food. The spread of Asian carp throughout the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes basins could damage and possibly destroy sport fishing and boating—an industry estimated to be worth $7 billion.
Although we call them “invaders,” Asian carp were actually intentionally introduced to the United States in the 1970s. Fish farmers thought they would keep ponds clean by eating parasites. However, flooding over the next 20 years let the fish escape into the wild. They thrived and spread, eventually entering the
Mississippi River. Today, bighead and silver carp (the two Asian species causing the most problems) are the dominant fish species in the Illinois River, which connects the Mississippi to Lake Michigan. Stated another way, these invasive species are now only a few miles away from the Great Lakes.
Asian carp have done so well because they can adapt to many conditions. They quickly reproduce and grow up to 4 feet and weigh as much as 100 pounds. It takes a lot of food to maintain that size: every day they eat 5 to 20 percent of their body weight, removing plankton—a major food source of native fish—from the food web. In addition, silver carp have even injured people. Noise or disturbance causes them to vigorously leap high into the air where they have collided with and injured boaters.
If it is possible to keep them from establishing in the Great Lakes, the time to find and implement solutions to the Asian carp invasion is now. Before considering those solutions, look at this background information on invasive species in general and Asian carp in particular:
(7 minutes) http://ecosystems.serc.si.edu/invasive-species

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLmJjRqXDCo
(Leaping Carp) http://www.lakescientist.com/lake-invaders
(Asian Carp, Kevin Rose/Smithsonian Environmental Research Center)
http://www.watershedcouncil.org/learn/aquatic%20invasive%20species/asian-carp/detailed-timeline/

Many people—scientists, political leaders, business owners, environmentalists, students, and ordinary citizens who live in the areas where Asian carp have invaded—are looking for ways to control the fish and, in particular, keep them from entering the Great Lakes. Many solutions based on research in different scientific and technical fields are being proposed, all of which have costs, benefits, and risks.
Why are there so many different proposals? Because there is no single solution that everyone agrees on.
Hoping to determine a definitive course of action, the U.S. Congress commissioned a major study to be conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers. Not surprisingly, the proposed solutions in the Corps’ 2014 study mostly require engineering and construction, such as electric “fences,” gates, treatment plants, tunnels, shipping locks, and electric barriers. Some barriers are already in place in the Chicago area.
i
According to some experts, structures offer the only long-term solution. But building these structures will cost billions of dollars and may take from 10 to 50 years, by which time it might be too late.
Some people think that we should look at the ways that people have driven other species to extinction or the brink of extinction and adapt those behaviors into methods that can be used to reduce or eliminate Asian carp. (Think of bison, wolves, passenger pigeons, elephants, tigers, etc.) Many of the behaviors that have driven species to extinction in the past are nonstructural because they did not require anything to be built. Some potential nonstructural methods include poisoning, fishing, and commercial harvesting.
Guiding Question: Which nonstructural control has the greatest potential for slowing the movement
of Asian carp into the Great Lakes?
Read the following articles and texts. Then based on your research, make a claim that best addresses the guiding question. As you work, make sure you identify the evidence you will need to support your claim.
Annotate what you read to help you mark and keep track of evidence as you work.
ASIAN CARP AS FOOD
1.
Eradicating fish through commercial fishing (2 articles)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/1
20421203715.htm http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/ne ws.aspx?id=201278
2.
Carp taste test (implications for marketing Asian carp) http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/2014/04/30/invasive-carp-clobber-catfish-in-taste-test/
3.
Asian carp as food: Elements of concern in fillets of bighead and silver carp from the Illinois River,
Illinois

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0045653513014926
(abstract and highlights only, are one page)
COMMERCIAL FISHING EFFECTIVENESS AND STRATEGIES
1.
Making Organic Fertilizer from Whole Fish http://www.newswise.com/articles/ualr-undergraduates-offer-plan-for-asian-carp-invasion-organicfertilizer-from-whole-fish2
2.
Overview, with statistics, on the commercial uses of fish and various fish processing methods
Food and Agriculture Organization, 2010. Part 1: World Review of Fisheries and Aquaculture,
(pages 44 – 47 “Fish Utilization and Processing” only)

http://www.fao.org/docrep/013/i1820e/i1820e01.pdf
3.
Prospects for Fishery-Induced Collapse of Invasive Asian Carp http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/03632415.2013.836501
4. Efficacy of Upstream Removal Efforts of Asian Carp in the Illinois River: Insights from a Multi-
Year Partnership between Biologists and Commercial Fishermen

https://afs.confex.com/afs/2014/webprogram/Paper16798.html
CHEMICAL CONTROL
1.
See especially “Aquatic Food Webs” and “Great Lakes Eco-Region” in Smithsonian Urban
Waterways Resources: http://my.si.edu/initiatives/waterways/NOAA
2.
Biomagnification (toxic chemicals introduced into rivers)

http://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/edu/learning/player/lesson13/l13la1.html
3.
Scientists developing poison pill for Asian carp http://phys.org/news/2012-04-scientists-poison-pill-asian-carp.html
4.
Use of Chemicals for Carp Control, pages 37to 55 of Controlling Carp: Exploring the Options for
Australia

http://www.clw.csiro.au/publications/controlling_carp.pdf#page=45
OTHER NONSTRUCTURAL SOLUTIONS
1.
The Plot to Kill the Carp (Lab testing of a “death fish” that will wipe out its own species) http://archive.wired.com/wired/archive/10.10/carp_pr.html
2.
Carp Madness Tournament

http://fw.ky.gov/Fish/Pages/Asian-Carp-Information.aspx
3.
Carp(e) Diem: Kentucky Sends Invasive Fish to China http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/24/293846571/carp-e-diem-kentucky-sends-invasivefish-to-china i The Great Lakes and Interbasin Mississippi River Study (GLMRIS) Summary includes eight alternative solutions, and has been written in language understandable by the general public. To read the study as well as learn about the public comments on the document, see http://glmris.anl.gov
.