Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) released a report entitled Ecological Risk Assessment of Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella) for the Great Lakes Basin last Friday.  This report is the result of a binational effort, led by DFO and coordinated with the binational Great Lakes Fishery Commission, to respond to the threat of Grass Carp introduction into the Great Lakes basin.  Grass Carp is one of four species of Asian Carp that can greatly disrupt the Great Lakes ecosystem.  Specifically, the report presents ecological consequences and overall risk of Grass Carp entry, establishment, survival and spread throughout the Great Lakes system.  The report states that Grass Carp have entered and begun to invade the Great Lakes basin, and that immediate preventative actions would be most effective to delay or reduce subsequent ecological consequences.  The full report is available from Fisheries and Oceans Canada here.  For more information, contact Matthew McKenna, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program or Ankita Mandelia, Policy Analyst for the Towards Sustainable Water Information Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.