The environmental threat posed by the Asian carp species is the newest and probably the most dangerous species facing the Great Lake seven billion dollars fishing business. The bighead and silver species were introduced to North America through fishing farms in 1970 to enhance the condition of water for aquaculture spaces in the southern region of the United States. However, due to flooding in the southern region, the Asian carp have invaded the Mississippi River and rampantly spread to Illinois State. In 1994, flooding in Illinois highlighted the extent to which the Asian carp had infested the region, with most dead fish swept to shore exceeding the native species by a ratio of nine to one ((Morrison n.p).
More importantly, the Asian carp’s danger to the overall United States ecosystem stems from its capacity to reproduce many times annually, the quick growth ability, adaptability, and capacity to overshadow the local water species. Surprisingly, an average Asian carp weighs roughly 20 to 40 pounds, with maximum weight going as far as a hundred pounds. With the weight described above, minimal predators are capable of preying on them, making the standard technique of controlling the population impossible.
Consequently, the excessive bounty of bighead and silver carp has created a significant challenge because of the conceivable competition with local fish species for food and habitat. Additionally, the two species of carp endanger people using engine boats because of their habit of rising out of the water on account of the noise produced and, in the process, destroying property and injuring people.
The steps used to mitigate the threat
In reaction to the carp threat, local and federal government units have come up with mitigation strategies. In 2002, the army corps deployed the shock treatment that entailed a couple of hundred feet of electrified fish fences between the Asian carp and Lake Michigan’s free open waters. This electric canal was a minimal-voltage technology; however, in 2009, a more robust unit (Barrier IIA) was established to function at a voltage robust enough to halt a human heart. Moreover, in 2009, rotenone poison was introduced 5.7 mile stretch of the waterway to restrict the carps’ movement during electric barrier maintenance; however, only one carp was discovered dead amongst the numerous fish killings (Watershed Council, n.p).
Later in 2010, eight feet tall fence was built to prohibit mature carps from utilizing the Indiana swamp to move to the Maumee and Wabash rivers. The Army Corps of Engineers also constructed a 13.2 million waterway obstruction consisting mainly of chain-connected fencing and concrete blockade. Under the national Lacey Act of 2011, the Bighead carp was declared and noted as harmful species making an end of its live importation to the United States. Nonetheless, the Army corps of engineers are confident that the best economically possible and efficient method to restrict carp is the Brandon Road barrier. This engineer’s finding of 2019 consists of a 778 million dollars scheme to reinforce Illinois water channel with electric cables, noisemakers, and additional devices to restrict the carp from accessing the Great Lakes (Hasler, n.p).
SWOT analysis of alleviation steps and landscape shift
The SWOT analysis is the best method to examine the alleviation steps for the Asian carp. A SWOT is an outlining tool utilized to comprehend the strengths (S), Weaknesses (W), Opportunities, and Threats (T) encountered in the mitigation process of the carp. The information below will enable Illinois to focus on strengths, reduce weaknesses, pinpoint threats, and take the best probable advantage of opportunities present.
The mitigation process’s strengths include decreasing the number of injurious species in known pathways by the use of the electric barrier that electrocutes and kills 85 to 95 percent of carps as they attempt to migrate to other waters. The second strength is the use of risk assessment to explore the possible pathways of carps by deploying the environmental DNA to detect the carps’ movement. Additionally, they impose movement regulation on the invasive species since the Brandon Road barrier repels advancing carps through electric obstructions and submerged speakers that produce loud noises. A uniquely developed flushing lock washes away Asian carps moving on the water surface as the boat pass (Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee, 19).
The main weakness illustrated by the process of mitigating the intrusive species is that smaller carps can penetrate the electric barrier. The most likely probability of such occurrence is when carps get stuck under ships In Ship Canal and Chicago’s Sanitary, thus creating a route to the Great Lakes (Kelly, n.p).
On the other hand, the reduction of invasive fish creates an opportunity for the sustainability of jobs and the fishery sector’s gross domestic product. Consequently, the carp population’s control leads to fish sales of approximately 97 billion to the national GDP and the provision of 1.6 million jobs. However, the threat posed by the stated mitigation measures leads to a biological outbreak that contaminates water while decreasing fish production by small-scale pond owners (Battaglin et al. 2). Historically, the primary purpose of importing invasive carp to the United States was to eradicate unwanted plankton in sewage treatment plants; hence, control measures object to this goal. Therefore to operate an effective fishery, the requirement is a balance between the prey and predator.