No one will save the lake for us
Featured Editorial
There is a lot of justifiable anxiety over the sluggish pace of federal action on Asian carp. The feds have been in slow motion in developing a plan to stave off the near-certain doomsday scenario that would play out should Asian carp find their way into the Great Lakes. So, it is up to us.
Yes, Washington will need to play a major financial role, but local institutions — in coordination with local industries — need to be the major players in finding a solution.
If an invasion of Asian carp, particularly the bighead or silver carp, does happen, it will decimate the region’s $7 billion fishery industry. This is not in dispute. The carp are prolific breeders and voracious filter feeders who will disrupt the lake’s complicated food web. The prized perch and walleye will die off in large numbers. In some areas of the Mississippi watershed, 80 to 90 percent of the fish are already Asian carp, numbers that could eventually be repeated in the Great Lakes.
There is some painfully slow movement at the federal level, including an Army Corps of Engineers report expected to be released in January, about a way to halt the carp threat at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Ill. But the western basin of Lake Erie is the heart of the problem. Its warmth and shallowness would be the perfect spawning area for the invaders.
What can we do? Well, the Toledo Zoo and the University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center are uniquely positioned to study that area, and they should — with the backing of federal funds.
“I think the Toledo Zoo should become a research platform through their aquarium, applying for research dollars — both public and private. And they should partner with the Lake Erie school over at Maumee Bay State Park,” Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D., Toledo) told The Blade’s editorial board.
“Our region needs to not just expect that others will finance this solution. We need to engage our assets locally and make this an undertaking for solving the problem. I think our local institutions need to reach beyond their comfort zones,” she continued.
Miss Kaptur is absolutely right, particularly about applying for public and private research dollars. The U.S. EPA’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative was created by the Obama Administration in 2009 to fund projects. Plus, this region has two major players — Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops — who have a vested interest in ensuring the health of sport fishing in Lake Erie. It is not unreasonable to expect them to also be willing to help.
Moreover, the zoo’s impressive aquarium provides a natural platform for educating the public about the problem and bringing them into the fight. The team of researchers at the zoo and the Lake Erie Center are in an ideal position to make a difference.
Finally, several states are restocking the alligator gar — one of the only natural predators of carp — in lakes and rivers. Could that be a solution? It is a question that needs to be studied and answered.
But it’s up to the citizens of the western Lake Erie basin. No one is sending the cavalry. The Lake Erie communities will have to take the lead in saving, and preserving, Lake Erie.