Keep Asian Carp Out Of The Great Lakes

[drew03cmc]

Well, tax money spent on fishing license sales gets doled out to all of the states, so indirectly it would hurt all states. I totally agree that more needs to done to address native species, but those are going to be affected just like the non-native species in the great lakes.

The problem here is the lack of foresight, we can either cut the great lakes off from the Illinois river (which was natural) or we can spend millions of dollars in building electric/sound barriers to keep them from getting into the great lakes, which they might get past anyways. I think that we should stop importing potentially harmful species into our country--both intentionally or unintended (ballast water or fish tank releases). There is no reason that we should be raising foodfish (silver and bighead carp) in a country where they did not evolve and do not belong, especially in an area that is prone to flooding.

I didn't mention my license fees as I know how those work, but if the federal government is going to fund this project it is indeed our tax dollars funding this. It doesn't matter if you buy a rod, reel, pair of socks, underwear or a soda. Part of that federal sales tax is going to what they want to try up there.

[fishgypsy]

My guess is that the waterways involved fall under the interstate commerce clause. Just as I pay for roads I don't use for California, my tax dollars are also spent maintaining commercial waterways in Illinois.

And there are plenty of native sportfish which will be negatively affected by the introduction of asian carp, from walleye and smallmouth bass to pike, lake trout, muskellunge, and others.