Monster fish must not reach waters of the Great Lakes

"The Fish that Saved Pittsburgh" was a weak 1979 comedy, but there's a real-life fish working its way toward the Great Lakes that could take a chunk out of Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Toronto and a lot of small towns along the lake. It has the potential for being a far larger horror story than the zebra mussel that invaded the lakes years ago.
The Asian carp is a huge plankton-gobbling fish that has worked its way to within 45 miles or so of Lake Michigan. Scientists worry that it could wipe out sport fish in the Great Lakes.
The fish was brought from China to Arkansas fish farms in the early 1970s to improve water quality and control algae blooms. Four species escaped when aquaculture ponds adjacent to the Mississippi River flooded about a decade ago.
Even though the fish are members of the minnow family, they are anything but small. The two most troublesome species -- bighead and silver -- grow to 4 feet in length, can weigh up to 100 pounds and can leap 15 feet out of the water.
Underwater pig
Oh, and when full grown, they eat two or three times their body weight a day.
If they become established in the Great Lakes -- and if they get to the lakes it's likely they'll establish themselves -- they have the potential of muscling sport fish like yellow perch, walleye and smallmouth bass out of the lakes eventually.
The economic loss would be enormous.
The Army Corps of Engineers has established a temporary electric barrier on a canal near Chicago, which acts very much like an electronic fence a homeowner might install, except that the fish don't need to be wearing special collars.
Work has begun on a second barrier of electricity, bubbles or sound waves that could operate for 25 years. The most expensive potential response to the threat would be elimination of a connection between the Chicago Ship and Sanitary Canal to Lake Michigan.
There's little enthusiasm for that, but it shouldn't be ruled out. The threat of this fish to the Great Lakes is enormous.