Tests find no Asian carp DNA in Michigan waters

Online WSJ - 

DNA tests in three southwestern Michigan rivers have turned up no sign of Asian carp, the huge, voracious fish threatening to invade the Great Lakes, scientists said Friday.

Researchers with the University of Notre Dame and The Nature Conservancy collected water from the Galien, St. Joseph and Paw Paw rivers last fall as part of a project to determine whether bighead or silver carp have reached Lake Michigan or its tributaries. Their DNA was not detected during lab analysis of the samples.

"This is great news for Michigan, but by no means should we relax our stance on Asian carp and the threat they pose to the Great Lakes basin," said Patricia Birkholz, director of the Office of the Great Lakes.

Fish leave genetic evidence of their presence in their scales and bodily wastes. Scientists with Notre Dame and the conservancy developed methods of using so-called environmental DNA to look for Asian carp in waterways linking the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins near Chicago.

The carp escaped into the Mississippi from Southern fish farms and sewage lagoons in the early 1970s and have been migrating northward. They have infested parts of the Mississippi and connected rivers, out-competing other fish for plankton. Scientists say if they reach the Great Lakes, the carp — which can reach 4 feet in length and weigh up to 100 pounds — could disrupt the food chain and threaten the $7 billion fishing industry.

Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania are pursuing a federal lawsuit seeking to sever the man-made connection between the lakes and the Mississippi.

Read more...

Posted via http://batavia08.posterous.com batavia08's posterous