Positive Invasive Species Acts

[HitMan]

The following is an email I just received from NACO (National Association of Charterboat Operators) today:

Dear NACO Great Lakes Member,

The effect of invasive species on the Great Lakes is the focus of a House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee hearing tomorrow, Wednesday (March 7), at 2 p.m. in 2167 Rayburn, Washington, DC. A subcommittee briefing paper from the 109th Congress noted that a new invasive species is discovered every eight months in the lakes.

The White House fiscal 2008 budget includes $35 million for the Great Lakes Legacy Act that funds U.S. EPA partnerships with local agencies and $8 million for an invasive species barrier on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. The Great Lakes boasts 18 percent of the world's fresh water supply and 95 percent of the U.S. fresh water supply. The system is the source of drinking water for millions, supplies process and cooling water for industrial uses, and is used to generate hydroelectric power.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI.) introduced two bills last week aimed at reducing the invasive species threat -- the "National Aquatic Invasive Species Act" and the "Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act."

The National Aquatic Invasive Species Act would reauthorize and strengthen the National Invasive Species Act of 1996 to protect U.S. waters by preventing new introductions of aquatic invasive species. The legislation would regulate ballast discharge from commercial vessels, prevent invasive species introductions from other pathways, support state management plans and screen live aquatic organisms entering the United States.

The Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act would list three species of Asian carp -- the bighead, black and silver carp -- as harmful wildlife under the Lacey Act. The move would prevent the intentional introduction of these species into the Great Lakes by prohibiting the interstate transportation or importation of live Asian carp without a permit. The Lacey Act makes illegal the trade certain fish and wildlife.

According to Levin's office, estimates of the annual economic damage caused nationwide by invasive species range as high as $137 billion. Because the Great Lakes fisheries are valued at $4 billion annually, preventing invasions into the Great Lakes from ballast water, hulls or the system of canals connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and Atlantic Ocean is critical. Once an exotic species establishes itself, it is almost impossible to eradicate and usually difficult to prevent from moving throughout the nation.

Asian carp have yet to enter the lakes, but scientists have spotted the invasive species within 25 miles of the entrance to Lake Michigan. The fish, which can weigh up to 60 pounds, migrate up the Mississippi River to the canal, where the fence emits an electric pulse to repel them. While Asian carp do not eat other native fish, the species eats up to 40 percent of its body weight in plankton each day, out-competing other species for food and habitat.