If you are a corporation or an Asian Carp, it has been a pretty good week for you in terms of SCOTUS decisions. As we all know, SCOTUS has decided to protect free speech rights for corporations.
What you might not know is that on Tuesday, SCOTUS denied an injunction sought by a coalition of Great Lakes states to close two lakeside navigation locks in Chicago in an attempt to protect the Great Lakes' fishing industry from the threat of Asian Carp.
SCOTUS provided a one-sentence order and did not provide any comment on the case.
So, this week, the SCOTUS has helped to ensure the take over of two invasive species -- Asian Carp and corporations.
Why no injunction? According to U.S. Solicitor General, Elena Kagan, Michigan did not demonstrate an immediate threat to justify closing the locks. But the threat is more than immediate. Asian carp are in Lake Michigan. We have DNA proof. Now the question is, what's more important. . . science or politics?
On Tuesday, while all eyes were on Massachusetts' Senate race, just prior to SCOTUS's decision to deny the request for an injunction that would temporarily close the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, news broke in the Great Lakes region that researchers from The Nature Conservancy, Notre Dame's Center for Aquatic Conservancy, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers have found environmental DNA traced to Asian carp in Calumet Harbor in Lake Michigan. This new DNA evidence, coupled with the DNA evidence found in the shipping channels that link the Illinois River to Lake Michigan, make a pretty convincing case that Asian carp have entered the Great Lakes system. (We also have a "body" -- one Asian carp has been found to have breached the electric fish barrier set up above the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, about 20 miles downstream from Lake Michigan).
This new evidence makes it pretty clear that the argument put forth by the U.S. Solicitor General, Elena Kagan, in her friend-of-the-court brief does not hold water. Asian carp are now in the Great Lakes system, most likely breeching the electric fish barriers put in place by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when the power was down due to maintenance activities. In addition, another barrier put in place in April intended to deter smaller, juvenile fish, was not turned up to full capacity until August.
While it is unknown how many Asian carp have made it into Lake Michigan and if the fish will be able to generate a substantial population, the evidence shows that they have arrived. Time is not on our side. The Great Lakes fishery is in potential danger and continued inaction will only allow the Asian carp the time needed to establish and spread.
The denial of the request for injunction is a problem. Not only does it allow a potential pathway for the Asian carp to continue into Lake Michigan, it also takes away an incentive for collective action. Without the threat of a temporary injunction, will Illinois join the rest of the Great Lakes states to seriously address the threat of Asian carp?
In many of the write-ups I've read this week on SCOTUS's decision and Illinois' position, there has been some reference to the Obama administration siding with Illinois due to economic concerns about what closing the locks would do to the shipping industry. But there is a Great Lakes fishery valued at $7 billion per year at stake, as well. (In 2008, cargo valued at $1.7 billion passed through the Chicago locks.) Not to mention associated industries and interests -- like recreational boating. Asian carp are not only an ecological threat, but they can also be a public safety concern as well as they are known to jump from waters due to boat disturbances and can harm passing boaters.
I sincerely hope that the Obama administration uses scientific data when working with Great Lakes interests to figure out a solution to the Asian carp problem. It disturbs me that Illinois seems to be the hold-out in the Great Lakes community when it comes to seriously addressing the Asian carp issue.
Obama's Great Lakes guy in the White House is Cameron Davis, former head of what used to be the Lake Michigan Federation and is now the Alliance for the Great Lakes. He seems to be towing the political line in his current position, but when he was an untethered Great Lakes advocate, he was outspoken about these issues and openly critcized the way that Chicago manages Lake Michigan's water. I'm betting he is feeling pretty conflicted right about now as part of this administration after having a role in the Great Lakes region that puts the health of the Great Lakes above all else.
Next steps in the battle against the invasion of Asian carp include a summit at the White House the first week in February. There are also pending cases before SCOTUS to address broader issues on the Chicago locks. Muskegon Critic has a recent diary that touches on these broader issues before SCOTUS.
With all the money for the Great Lakes that Congress recently appropriated, much of which will go to address the issue of invasive species, it is frustrating to think that the good these funds could do to address Asian carp will go to waste if there is no political will to implement a unified approach. It will be interesting to see what the February White House summit will produce.
I hope the results put action behind Obama's stated "zero tolerance policy" for invasive species in the Great Lakes.
In the meantime. . . maybe Great Lakes restaurants can start developing silverfin (Louisiana's marketing name for Asian carp) entrees for their menus.