Asian carp
These four species, now also known commercially as Copi in the United States, are staple food fish in their native China, where they are collectively known as qing cao lian yong (青草鲢鳙) or si da jia yu (四大家鱼, "Four Great Domestic Fish")[note 2] and are farmed extensively.
[6] Silver carp are easily frightened by boats, which cause them to leap between 2.5–3.0 metres (8–10 ft) into the air, and numerous boaters have been severely injured by collisions with the fish.
The extremely high abundance of bighead and silver carp has caused great concern because of the potential for competition with native species for food and living space.
[21] In the 1970s, fish farmers in mostly southern states began importing Asian carp from China to help clean their commercial ponds.
[22][23] The rise in the populations of bighead and silver carp has been dramatic where they are established in the Mississippi River basin.
Bighead, silver, and grass carp have been captured in that watershed from Louisiana to South Dakota, Minnesota, and Ohio.
It involves the use of electric waves that stun (non-lethally) the invasive fish at the surface of the water, where fisherman can then corral them into net and remove from the ecosystem.
[32] There have been conclusive results that have proven electro-fishing to be an effective and efficient way to manage the Asian carp invasion in Midwestern waterways.
[34] In June 2022,[35] the Illinois Department of Natural Resources announced a campaign to rebrand Asian carp as Copi, which is a clipping of "copious", referring to the large amount of the fish in the US.
The Copi renaming is a part of a Federal and state initiative to get the public to eat the invasive fish,[37] decrease its numbers in Midwestern waterways,[38] and prevent its introduction to the Great Lakes.
[39] The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)'s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI)[40] is funding the Copi rebrand of Asian carp.
[41] The Stop Asian Carp Act of 2011 was introduced to require the Secretary of the Army to study the feasibility of the hydrological separation, such as electric barriers, of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins.
[42] The act provided 30 days for the Secretary of the Army to begin a study on the best means of implementing a hydrological separation of the Great Lakes to prevent the introduction of Asian carp.
The study requirements included researching techniques that prevented the spread of carp from flooding, wastewater and storm water infrastructure, waterway safety operations, and barge and recreational traffic.
[43] The legislation provides direction to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete their study within 18 months on how to separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi watersheds.
The Water Resources Development Act of 2020 was passed by Congress to provide $25 million to efforts against the invasive species in the Tennessee and Cumberland river basins.
The committee is partnering with a collaboration of 26 U.S. and Canadian federal, state, provincial, tribal, regional and local agencies to work on new technologies and strategies to implement against Asian carp spreading to the Great Lakes.
