The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MN DNR) announced on August 22 that it's staff observed the carcass of a silver carp on a concrete abutment just below Mississippi River Lock and Dam 5, about 20 miles farther upstream than the previous northernmost detection of the species.  Silver carp, along with bighead, grass and black carp, is a non-native Asian carp species threatening the Upper Mississippi River and other North American aquatic ecosystems. MN DNR scientists speculate that the silver carp found on the abutment was attempting to jump over the lock and dam structures.  Such structures provide a physical barrier restricting fish passage along waterways but only when closed.  Such structures provide a partial physical barrier restricting fish passage along waterways.  However, lock openings for navigation could facilitate fish movement up or downstream.  Lock and Dam 5 is about 110 miles and three lock and damn pairings south of the northernmost lock and dam facility on the Mississippi River (Lock and Dam 1 in St. Paul, Minnesota).  Active monitoring for Asian carp is also underway throughout the Great Lakes, including the Kalamazoo River in Michigan. Field personnel monitoring the Maumee and Sandusky Rivers in Ohio found one positive sample of Asian carp eDNA, though surveyors found no live or dead fish.

Silver carp can reach 60 pounds in weight, and impact the base of the aquatic food chain by consuming large amounts of plankton that some native fish also rely upon.  To date there is no evidence that bighead or silver carp are reproducing in Minnesota waters of either the Mississippi or St. Croix rivers.  However, established populations of both species are present in the Mississippi River and its tributaries downstream of Lock and Dam 16 in Iowa.  Bighead carp have been detected in Lake Pepin on the Mississippi River and in the St. Croix River in Minnesota, and as far north as the mouth of the St. Croix River in Prescott, Wisconsin.  

 

For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

The President's Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, led by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan, released its report on Monday, August 19, detailing recommendations on how to better prepare for massive storms like Hurricane Sandy.  The report emphasized increasing risks posed by sea level rise and extreme weather events, and  climate change as a contributing factor. Recommendations included: creating incentives for private companies to improve distribution and telecommunication grids to avoid long outages; using natural buffers, like wetlands, for storm impact mitigation; strengthening building standards; and creating decision-support tools to weigh impacts and benefits of different rebuilding options.

 

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute. 

Algal blooms in Maumee Bay, in western Lake Erie, have intensified according to recent reports. Charter Captains on the lake have supported these observations, noting "a lot of blooms" out in the lake while fishing. Researchers had predicted the bloom for Lake Erie in 2013 would be greater than in 2012 but less than the record bloom seen in 2011, which was so bright and large it was easily visible from space. In June, the NEMWI, in coordination with the Great Lakes Task Force, coordinated a briefing for congressional staff on algal blooms, their causes, and efforts to reduce them.

 

For more information, contact Danielle Chesky, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.