Poison to be used against Asian carp

CHICAGO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- An Illinois Department of Natural Resources official said poison will be added to a Chicago canal to stop Asian carp from reaching Lake Michigan.

John Rogner, the department's assistant director, said by adding poison to nearly 6 miles of canal on the outskirts of Chicago, biologists hope to keep the invasive species at bay long enough to repair a new electric fish barrier, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Friday.

"Obviously, we have to push the fish back near the barrier when it is taken down," Rogner said of the planned fence maintenance.

The fish poison rotenone will be used in the two-day, $1.5 million project scheduled to take place in December, Rogner said. The poison will be detoxified downstream through the addition of another dose of chemicals.

Cameron Davis, head of the Environmental Protection Agency's Great Lakes restoration plan, told the Journal Sentinel it is imperative the Asian carp are kept out of Lake Michigan.

"What's at stake here is a $7 billion-plus fishery in the Great Lakes, and an ecosystem that is already under tremendous stress," Davis said regarding the species' voracious appetites. "If the carp get in, it will be catastrophic."