marine industry professionals
Asian carp measures could hurt Chicago businesses
If locks and dams in Chicago-area waterways are closed to keep Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, there would be an immediate effect on local boating businesses.
"If they close the river, my business would die," Anthony Discepolo, owner of A-1 Millennium Marina, which sits on the Little Calumet River in Burnham, told the Chicago Tribune. "The impact would be horrendous. Boaters don't want to be restricted to just the river."
Blocking access to the lake could force recreational boaters to look elsewhere for storage and launch sites. It would affect restaurants, bars and businesses that cater to boaters and already have taken a hit because of the economy, owners said.
To protect the lake from the migrating Asian carp, Michigan filed a lawsuit to force the closure of the Chicago River Lock in downtown Chicago and the O'Brien Lock in Burnham. Attorneys general in Ohio, New York and Minnesota have joined the effort.
The U.S. Supreme Court could rule this week on closing the waterways.
advertisement
advertisement
advertisements
Nowhere is there an explanation of how the $78.5 million will be spent.
What does the American public get for this money?
What is the source of the money?
Another federal boondoggle?
Does it take $78.5 million to close two locks?
Will the problem be solved, or just posponed?
Who will be in charge of monitoring the project?
Lots of questions with few answers.
Asian Carp are in Lake Erie already! They have been there for years! It must be a wasteland up there now? We better shut the Welland Canal and the Detroit River. Carpmongering to scare people into rush to judgment actions is what we don't need. First of all FACT number one. The Asian Carp Science is up for debate. No one knows for sure that they can even thrive in the open waters of Lake Michigan. Fact number two: inorder to protect ourselves from this alleged threat we have already killed more native fish than the carp have! Fact number 3 the EDNA testing which you guys rely on all the time has not even been independently verified to make sure the test works. Fact number four and maybe the most important is there have been NO Asian carp found or caught across the safety barrier. None not one. Oh and did I mention that there are already Asian Carp living in Lake Erie!
I am truly sorry for the impact closing the locks would have on some of the businesses in the Chicago area. Perhaps they should bring lawsuits against the State of Illinois for failing to fulfill a legal obligation to run the lockes, etc. in a manner which could have an advers affect on the Great Lakes.
However, the damage suffered by local businesses pales in comparison to the damage that would be suffered by the Great Lakes themselves and the people who make their livlihoods from them, as well as the people of this country and Canada who enjoy the Lakes. Keep in mind, the advers impact on the Great Lakes will last for ever, and be irreversable. Further, the future cost to try to keep the carp under control will dwarf the current losses incurred by the cargo companies.
Finally, consider the damage that Chicago and Illinois will suffer. Chicago has one of the largest pleasure boating and fishing communities on the great lakes, not to mention some beautiful coast line and beaches enjoyed by its residents and tourists. Imagine a coastline filled with 100 lb carp, and fish jumping in the air injuring boaters, water skiers, jet skiers and tubers, not to mention completely destroying the hobby of pleasure fishing. They will not be happy about it.
If they keep the locke open, and the carp end up getting into the Great Lakes, and having an irreversable devastating effect, 20, 50, 100 and more years from, our children and grand childen will look back and say - what were they thinking?