There is much to update on this story:

U.S. Representative Camp (MI-4th) and Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox will hold a town hall meeting on efforts to stop Asian Carp this Wednesday (Feb 17) at the Great Lakes Maritime Academy, 1701 Front St., from 11 a.m. to noon.

Circle of Blue Water News has dedicated an entire page to developments on the Asian Carp. The latest article "EPA Gets an Earful Over Asian Carp Plans" is out today, here is an excerpt:

"Federal officials who are protecting the Great Lakes against Asian carp unveiled their multi-pronged plan during a public hearing in Chicago on Friday. The representatives planned on using the forum to get immediate feedback on their proposed solution.

What they got was a sharply divided range of opinions and raw emotions from the standing-room only crowd. Dozens of Chicago-area business owners and boat captains made emotional comments in anger over the mere possibility of closing the locks on a part-time basis. Meanwhile, other people in attendance called for the locks to be closed immediately, rather than wait several months to conduct a study called for by the plan."

7&4 News has this story on a rally held in Traverse City against the carp:

"Hundreds of people in the Traverse City area are rallying against the asian carp. The concern is the invasive species could find its way into Lake Michigan and hurt the fishing industry. Several State Representatives shared their concerns, along with local business leaders and even members of Michigan Trout Unlimited and the Grand Traverse Sport Fishing Association.

The Associated Press has this story on the commitment of $78.5 million dollars to keep the Asian Carp out of the Great Lakes:

Navigational locks and gates in Chicago-area waterways crucial for shipping may be opened less frequently than usual under a $78.5 million campaign to prevent Asian carp from overrunning the Great Lakes, federal officials said Monday. The plan falls short of closing the navigational structures entirely, as demanded by Michigan and five other Great Lakes states. The Obama administration described the plan as part of an effective strategy for keeping the invasive fish at bay while long-term biological controls are developed. The government said it would take 25 actions to slow the advance of the carp, which can reach 4 feet long and 100 pounds."

The AP also reported that in Congressional testimony last week, scientists called the Obama administration's response "flawed":

"Permanently severing a man-made link between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River system is the only sure way to protect the lakes from voracious Asian carp, scientists and activists told a congressional panel Tuesday. While praising the Obama administration for pledging to spend $78.5 million on a wide-ranging plan for thwarting a carp invasion of Lake Michigan through Chicago waterways, critics said it was at best a temporary and flawed approach.

"The goal must be ecological separation. The Great Lakes cannot wait," Michael Hansen, chairman of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, said during a hearing of the House Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment.

Illinois has opposed the closing of the waterways due to economic reasons. But, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has this article on a study by Michigan AG Cox, that concludes Illinois is "seriously exaggerating" potential economic losses:

"Illinois politicians have claimed that even a temporary closure of two Chicago navigation locks will lead to regional economic devastation, but a new transportation analysis released by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox tells a different story. The two locks near the shore of Lake Michigan handle about 7 million tons of cargo annually, mostly bulk materials such as sand, coal and petroleum that fuel Chicago-area industries. That volume is merely a sliver of what's already moving down Chicago-area rails, roads and canals, said Cox, who sued unsuccessfully last month to close the locks to protect Lake Michigan from an Asian carp invasion.

Cox's study claims just two trains a day could handle the amount of cargo affected by a lock closure and the added cost of transferring the cargo would amount to a mere $70 million a year. By contrast, the commercial and sport fishing Cox and others say is jeopardized by an Asian carp invasion is worth an estimated $7 billion a year.

Claiming the economic impact of a temporary lock closure has been "seriously exaggerated" and citing recent evidence that some carp already might have made their way into Lake Michigan, Cox said Thursday that he plans to ask the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider its Jan. 19 decision not to order the locks shut."

On Friday (Feb 12), Indiana Governor Daniels came out against closing the locks:

"Gov. Mitch Daniels says in a letter to the White House that closing the lock system would be an "extreme action" that would worsen flooding in northwestern Indiana. Daniels says he favors a more comprehensive approach to dealing with the carp threat."

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