Asian carp, a fish that threatens to invade the Great Lakes, are known to energetically jump from the water, sometimes battering boaters. (Photograph courtesy of Great Lakes Fishery Commission) Desperate to stop Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes, governors from the Great Lakes states have turned first to the Supreme Court and then to the Obama administration for help. With an appeal already turned down by the Supreme Court, the Great Lakes governors have now been promised a meeting with the Obama administration in early February to find a way to stop the invasion of the carp into the lakes, and attorneys general from the states have also now asked to be included.

Last Tuesday, January 19, Michigan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to immediately close the locks in the Chicago Shipping Canal to keep out the fish, but the court refused to do so, without explanation. The Alliance for the Great Lakes and other Great Lakes restoration groups blamed the move on the federal government, which Alliance President Joel Brammeier said had strongly resisted Michigan's request.

This fisheries worker shows off a typical Asian carp. (Photograph courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) The same day, Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm and Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle called for the White House to set up a summit with Great Lakes governors to discuss the threat. Wednesday, the White House agreed to an early February meeting.

A voracious non-native fish, Asian carp have been spreading toward the Great Lakes for years, and now have reached the waterways near Chicago. DNA testing on water samples taken beyond the final electrical barrier in the canal leading into Lake Michigan tested positive for presence of the fish last week, providing new evidence that the Asian carp are moving closer, and may have breached Lake Michigan. Once in the lakes, it is believed that the carp will gobble up food sources needed by native fish species, devastating the fishery.

The Asian carp.(Photograph courtesy of Great Lakes Fishery Commission) "Asian carp threaten the wellbeing of our Great Lakes, and ultimately, the well-being of Michigan," said Governor Granholm in a statement last week. "It is disappointing that the Supreme Court declined to aid in our fight against these aquatic invaders, so we now ask the White House to work with us in finding a solution before it is too late."

Invasive species have already had a significant impact on the economies of the Great Lakes states, and Governor Granholm warned that the introduction of Asian carp into the already fragile ecosystem would be devastating. The carp can reach up to four feet in length, weigh up to 100 pounds, and consume 40% of their body weight daily. They are known to jump energetically from the water when upset, battering boaters.

The Supreme Court's decision was released January 19 just hours before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced the discovery of Asian carp DNA in Lake Michigan. The DNA evidence was found in Calumet Harbor, a large breakwater-protected area in the open water of Lake Michigan, and is the first indication of the Asian carp's presence in the lake, the Alliance reported. The tests don't show how many fish there are in those waters, or whether they are alive or dead.

The lawsuit filed by the state of Michigan called on the Supreme Court to temporarily seal off two Chicago-area locks and waterways leading into Lake Michigan and to require new barriers to prevent the fish's movement into the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal through the floodwaters of nearby rivers.

The court refused that appeal.

In a second, so far unanswered, request, Michigan seeks to have the court reopen a longstanding case in which the court ultimately upheld the Chicago diversion despite the protests of the other Great Lakes states, according to the Alliance for the Great Lakes. The states of Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have all filed briefs supporting one or both of the Michigan lawsuits, and the Canadian province of Ontario filed a friend of the court brief. Named in the case are the state of Illinois, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago.

Michigan Congressman Dave Camp introduced legislation Wednesday, January 20, to mandate the immediate closure of routes that could bring the carp into the Great Lakes.

The Alliance for the Great Lakes last year called for physical separation of the Mississippi and Great Lakes basins as the only permanent solution to the problem.

The lakes provide one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water.