LANSING (WKZO-AM) — The Asian Carp watch continues in the Great Lakes and in west Michigan rivers, and so far the DNR says this year they have found no evidence that the invasive species has gotten past the barriers in the Chicago River.
So far $300-million has been spent on what they say are interim measures to keep the voracious species from getting into the Great Lakes System. The fear is that if they do, they will take it over, destroying the fishing industry here.
Since the joint DNR/U.S. Fish and Wildlife monitoring program began four years ago, over 7-thousand water samples have been collected and only one has tested positive. That was a sample from the Kalamazoo River in 2014 that they presume contained Carp DNA that was transported there by a boat or an angler who brought it from another body of water.
The DNR says they are still waiting for third round tests from the St. Joseph, Grand, Kalamazoo, Muskegon, Macatawa, Galien and Black rivers from this month.
Testing for the DNA of the big head and silver carp is a more efficient way of screening waterways for their presence, than actually trying to identify the fish.
