|
Great Lakes
Article:
Bush
to sign legislation to save Great Lakes fish
By Greg Wright
Gannett News Service
11/20/03
WASHINGTON -- President Bush is expected to sign into law
a bill giving Great Lakes states $763,000 to save native
fish that foreign invaders such as Asian carp are driving
to extinction.
Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, put the fishery restoration
money in the 2004 energy and water projects spending bill.
Fellow Republican Ohio Sen. Mike DeWine also pushed for
the project.
"I've been working on this for a long time,"
said Marc Gaden, spokesman for the Great Lakes Fish
ery Commission based in Ann Arbor, Mich. "This is
fantastic what they've done."
The fishery money is a boon for fishermen who ply the
waters of lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario.
Invasive species such as Asian carp and sea lampreys from
the Atlantic Ocean are crowding out native fish such as
lake trout and cisco.
The invaders have few predators in North America and
soon can overrun streams, canals and lakes.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, along with states'
officials, local groups and American Indian tribes, could
use the money to build barriers at the Chicago Sanitary
and Ship Canal to keep Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan,
Gaden said. The fish already are common on the Mississippi
River, which connects to the lake through the canal and
a series of other streams and rivers.
The money also could be used to remove man-made breakers
and other barriers that interfere with migrating and breeding
native fish, he said.
The Great Lakes Fishery Commission already has a sea
lamprey control program, but part of the federal money
could be used to eradicate that species, Gaden said. Sea
lampreys, which resemble eels, clamp on to trout, salmon
and other fish using sharp teeth and suckers.
They literally "suck the life out of their victims,"
Gaden said.
The $763,000 in fishery restoration money is the first
part of $100 million Congress authorized for Great Lakes
environmental projects in 2000, Gaden said.
President Bush is visiting Great Britain, and it is unclear
when he will sign the bill that activates the fishery
money, Voinovich spokeswoman Marcie Ridgway said.
"As an avid fisherman, I'm glad to support efforts
to help revitalize and sustain the lakes' ecosystems,"
Voinovich said.
|
