Hordes of Ravenous Carp Move Toward Lake

(Feb. 2) -- The Great Lakes soon may be overrun with giant, jumping carp.

DNA evidence suggests that Asian carp, a blanket term for a few species of hungry, nonnative fish that have been establishing themselves on the Mississippi and its tributaries since the mid-'90s, may have bested a multimillion-dollar system of electrical barriers to spread into Lake Michigan.

The announcement came just a few days before VHS, a lethal fish virus, was discovered in Lake Superior. Some fear that if the Asian carp come to infest the world's largest freshwater resource as they have the Mississippi, they could wreak havoc on the fragile ecosystem and destroy the $7 billion-a-year fishery.

ALSO SEE: Invasive Asian Carp Inspire Lawsuits, Extreme Archery

While measures have been taken to prevent the carp from spreading into the Great Lakes, such as building the electric barrier and poisoning crucial waterways, the question of containment has caused much strife in Midwestern states. Disputes over whether locks should be closed prompted Michigan to sue Illinois, garnering support from Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin. Many have also accused local and federal agencies of dragging their feet while the carp continue to spread.

Some also believe that preventing the spread of Asian carp could involve a Works Progress Administration-style public works project that could provide an economic boost to the devastated Midwest.

"Re-engineering the barriers that used to separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi would not only create jobs; it would represent a major mobilization against an identifiable enemy," writes Ruth Conniff in the Madison, Wis., publication Isthmus. "Terrorists in far-off lands have nothing on these fish!"

On the question of federal involvement, Gawker says, "Barack Obama Is Pro-Sea Monster."

Asian carp are not the only exotic species to threaten U.S. ecosystems, but they may be the most sensational. They reportedly can grow up to 100 pounds and breed twice a season. They're startled by the sound of motorboats and will jump up to 10 feet in the air when fishermen approach, leading not only to lacerations and broken bones but also to stunning images of massive fish storms that make carp fishing as easy as driving slowly.

While the possibility of ecosystem disruption is difficult to ignore, some scientists believe that the threat from "invasive" species has been greatly overestimated and that ecosystems are essentially fluid establishments.

"I hate the 'exotics are evil' bit, because it's so unscientific," ecologist Dov Sax told The New York Times in 2008. He argued that while exotic species will stir up ecosystems, they rarely contribute to actual extinctions of native plants and, in fact, often encourage biodiversity.

Arguments about natural evolution and ecosystem change, however, are little consolation to the hapless fishermen who have had their noses broken by giant leaping carp.

Some are adapting, though. According to Salon.com, restaurants in Chicago serve deep-fried carp or Vietnamese coconut carp. Some entrepreneurs want to start harvesting the fish not just for food, but for fertilizer as well.

They may not be a curse on sport-fishing, either: Wisconsin resident Sam Wood told The Associated Press in 2006 that the hordes of jumping fish surrounding his boat were a bow-fisher's dream. "If I don't put 200 fish a night in the boat, I'm pretty disgusted with myself," he said.