Asian carp

GTB & Derek Bailey Look Back on 2010

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

News article (and video) here, via Pechanga:

TRAVERSE CITY, MI — Tribal Chairman Derek Bailey looks back at 2010 with appreciation.

For him, it’s a year that broke down barriers and allowed him to pursue his goals as a tribal leader.

“When I campaigned to the tribal members I said that one of the commitments I bring forth, if elected chair, would be to increase our presence locally, state wide and nationally. Now I’m not taking away from what past tribal leaders have accomplished, but I wanted to build upon that,” Bailey said.

In the spring, the Grand Traverse Band received national recognition when President Obama announced he would be appointing Bailey to the National Advisory Council on Indian education.

“I know with my appointment to the National Advisory Council of Indian education, early education is a huge emphasis for me…significant brain development occurs between 0-5 years old. The least amount of funding goes in at that time.”

Continue reading →

Federal Court Declines to Shut Out the Asian Carp

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

Here is the opinion: 12-3-10 Opinion & Order.

While the motion for preliminary injunction was denied, the case was not dismissed on immunity grounds.

Obama Names Asian Carp Issue Leader

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

President Barack OBAMA today announced the appointment of John GOSS as the administration’s new “Asian Carp” director.

In his role, Goss will serve as the principal advisor to Council of Environmental Quality Chair Nancy SUTLEY on Asian carp issues and oversee the coordination of federal, state, and local efforts to keep Asian carp from establishing in the Great Lakes ecosystems.

“As the new Asian Carp Director, John Goss clearly understands this mandate, and he will ensure that all federal agencies understand it as well,” said Gov. Jennifer GRANHOLM. “John Goss shares our passion for protecting the Great Lakes, and his skills and experience make him a great choice for this vital mission.”

Asian Carp Injunction Hearing Today

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Toledo Blade, via How Appealing:

A federal court hearing begins in Chicago Tuesday that has huge ramifications for the Great Lakes region’s $7 billion fishery, and especially for Toledo and other parts of western Lake Erie trying to diversify their economies with more recreation tourism.

Mike Cox, Michigan’s attorney general, is asking for a preliminary injunction against the Army Corps of Engineers to block the movement of Asian carp into Lake Michigan until a suit seeking a permanent separation of the lakes from the Mississippi River is decided.

Mr. Cox, joined by Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray’s office and other officials, demands immediate construction of more barriers and more aggressive use of poisons, metal grates, nets, and similar devices to repel the threat.

“The future of our water-based economy and environment is hanging in the balance,” Mr. Cox said.

The hearings only will decide the temporary injunction.

Continue reading →

GTB Moves to Intervene in Asian Carp Suit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From Indianz:

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians filed a motion to join a lawsuit over Asian carp, an invasive species.

Five states are suing the federal government and the city of Chicago over efforts to limit the impact of the carp. The tribe wants to ensure that its treaty rights are protected throughout the litigation.

“Historically, fishing played a central role in the spiritual and cultural framework of Native American life,” the tribe said in the brief, the Associated Press reported. “Not only are the Great Lakes fish culturally important to the tribes, these communities depend upon fisheries resources for their livelihoods.”

A hearing in the case is set for September 7.

Continue reading →

Update on Asian Carp Suit

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the CSM:

A judge on Monday scheduled hearings in an Asian carp case for September – a decision that will allow five Midwestern states to call on expert testimony. The five states are seeking to close two Chicago canals in a bid to stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes. A federal judge has set Sept. 7, 2010 as the next hearing in a multistate lawsuit demanding tougher action to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes. The five Midwestern states suing to keep Asian carp – the behemoths that gorge on plankton and leap 10 feet in the air – out of the Great Lakes claimed to score a legal victory Monday.

On Monday, a federal judge held an initial hearing and scheduled more hearings for expert testimony in early September. The Michigan attorney general’s office heralded the decision, since it will be the first time the case is heard on its merits. The Supreme Court earlier this year declined to take up the case.

The goal of the lawsuit is to force Chicago to shut down two locks except in cases of emergency, preventing Asian carp from using the canals to reach the Great Lakes. That plan has met with with fierce resistance from barge and tour boat operators.

But with carp DNA showing up near Lake Michigan and a bighead carp found in June just six miles from the lake – and beyond the electronic barrier that is supposed to keep it out – a number of groups are calling for drastic action before the fish can infiltrate the Great Lakes with potentially dire consequences.

Continue reading →

Asian Carp Caught Beyond Chicago’s Barriers

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

CHICAGO — An Asian carp was found for the first time beyond electric barriers meant to keep the voracious invasive species out of the Great Lakes, state and federal officials said Wednesday, prompting renewed calls for swift action to block their advance.

Commercial fishermen landed the 3-foot-long, 20-pound bighead carp in Lake Calumet on Chicago’s South Side, about six miles from Lake Michigan, according to the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee.

Officials said they need more information to determine the significance of the find.

“The threat to the Great Lakes depends on how many have access to the lakes, which depends on how many are in the Chicago waterway right now,” said John Rogner, assistant director of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

But environmental groups said the discovery leaves no doubt that other Asian carp have breached barriers designed to prevent them from migrating from the Mississippi River system to the Great Lakes and proves the government needs to act faster.

“If the capture of this live fish doesn’t confirm the urgency of this problem, nothing will,” said Andy Buchsbaum, director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes office.

Continue reading →

Supreme Court Rejects Asian Carp Injunction Again

Matthew L.M. Fletcher1 Comment

News article here via How Appealing.

Asian Carp Coverage from the UK

Kate Fort

From the Guardian:

‘Terminator’ carp threatens Great Lakes

Environmentalists say Asian carp, an invasive species of food-guzzling fish, could cause an ecological disaster if it enters Lake Michigan

Ed Pilkington, Chicago

guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 23 February 2010 18.36 GMT

Two Asian carp are displayed on Capitol Hill in Washington
Asian carp, an invasive aquatic species threatening the Great Lakes. Photograph: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP

The fight looks utterly unequal. In the red corner: the combined might of North America, including the US and Canadian governments, the US army, the governors of eight American states, two Senate c­ommittees and the supreme court. In the blue corner: one fish.

The way things are looking, the fish is winning.

At stake is the health of the Great Lakes, the world’s largest body of fresh water. Environmentalists warn of ecological disaster, courtesy of Asian carp, an invasive species of food-guzzling fish that is within miles of entering Lake Michigan.

If they do, they would have the ­potential to spread throughout the lakes, wreaking havoc to their ecosystem and with it the $7bn (£4.7bn) fishing and recreation industries on which millions of jobs depend. “This is an intense threat, and people are just waking up to how big the danger is,” said David Ullrich of the Great Lakes and St Lawrence Cities Initiative, which represents 70 waterfront cities in the US and Canada with a joint population of 13 million.

Continue reading →

Asian Carp Op/Ed from GTB Chair Derek Bailey

Matthew L.M. Fletcher

From the Traverse City Record-Eagle:

Three decades ago many thought that the Great Lakes fisheries resources would be ruined by American Indian tribes exercising “treaty-fishing” rights. After the federal courts confirmed these treaty-reserved rights, the tribes demonstrated their primary concern is protection of the Great Lakes fisheries.

Ironically, these “treaty-fishing” rights now might prove crucial in protecting fisheries resources for all of Michigan’s citizens against the Asian carp invasion.

The United States Supreme Court has denied Michigan’s request for an injunction closing the shipping locks outside of Chicago to prevent any further migration of Asian carp into the Great Lakes. In the midst of the competing claims debating the economic losses of closing shipping to the Mississippi River system compared to potential harm to Great Lakes fisheries, all parties — Attorney General Cox, Gov. Granholm, the Army Corps of Engineers and other federal agencies — agree that the damage to the Great Lakes fisheries will be profound.

It has been almost six years since the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that “Asian carp could have a devastating effect on the Great Lakes ecosystem and a significant impact on the $7 billion fishery.” During this time the Army Corps of Engineers failed to act promptly, in effect fiddling while Rome burned. To the extent the Army Corps is responsible for the impending disaster, the tribes may be better situated than the state to challenge the federal government.

Continue reading →