A prominent Michigan researcher says that it’s time for government officials to stop discussing the possibility of Asian carp invading Michigan waterways. Instead, leaders should assume they will cause major harm and work to stop the impending problem.
Dr. Bill Taylor, University Distinguished professor in global fisheries sustainability at Michigan State University and a member of MSU’s Center for Systems Integration and Sustainability, says he is weary of perusing Asian carp research.
“I am tired of studying what we already know is going to happen,” he says, “We’ve watched this for 10 years. We know what’s going to happen.”
Taylor believes that the threat of Asian carp controversy has been policy-driven and policymakers are losing sight over the facts; Asian carp may potentially eradicate our local resident fish population, costing us an insurmountable amount of money and ruining a vital Great Lakes ecosystem.
“The Asian carp are going to whack the tributaries,” Taylor says, “They’re going to eat all the food – they eat anything they get in their mouth and that means they’ll eat the food base that our resident fish would normally eat. They will change the food web and dominate our streams and near shore regions in the Great Lakes basin.”
Taylor is one of several authors that published a paper in the Journal of Great Lakes Research on June 30 addressing the downplayed Asian carp threat by government officials.
The authors believes the science community is tired of officials inaccurately claiming that Asian carp will not thrive or cause serious damage in the Great Lakes; and that current barriers are effective in preventing the spread of Asian carp.
The paper suggests Congress should create legislation that requires the U.S. Army to create a permanent solution to eradicating this species using the best technology available.
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