Ontario partners with US in fight against Asian carp

It’s not often that there’s good news relating to Asian carp, but last week, there were a few matters regarding the invasive species to be positive about.

It was reported that Fisheries and Oceans Canada, as well as the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources have joined the Asian Carp Regional Co-ordinating Committee. Organized a few years ago, the commitee is a body that includes federal U.S. and state agencies, which have currently spent more than $100 million in efforts to stop the invasive fish, known to eat other species’ food supply and crowd them out of their habitat.

Asian carp have invaded and destructed thousands of kilometres of the U.S. ecosystem, including the Mississippi River and its tributaries. Despite much criticism of the government’s effort to control the species, actions to keep them out of Canada’s Great Lakes hardly appear to be lost.

Since 2010, Natural Resources enforcement officers have managed to seize nearly 40,000 pounds Asian carppheaded for Ontario markets. What’s more, in a recently completed search of western Lake Erie, US natural resources are said to have found no silver or bighead carp, which are the two most threatening Asian carp species.

So while this issue is far from resolved, it appears the province, and country, are taking steps in the right direction.

For more information, head to the Fisheries and Oceans Canada website.