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State officials said Tuesday that Asian carp DNA has been found in the Fox River in downtown Green Bay, a discovery that gives scientists the newest genetic evidence of invasive fish in the Lake Michigan basin.
The DNR is now working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to collect more samples from the river in the next two weeks to try to determine where the DNA came from.
The sample was one of 200 taken from the river in June and July.
The presence of DNA does not necessarily mean live fish are in the river, the DNR says. Last year, a similar sample was discovered in Sturgeon Bay, but testing failed to turn up further evidence of Asian carp. DNA can come from boats’ bilge water as well as mucus and excrement from birds and fish that have eaten the carp elsewhere.
Asian carp species, including silver and bighead carp, were imported into the southern U.S. in the 1970s. Wildlife officials are concerned about the spread of the fish because they could take food from native fish. Asian carp are in the Illinois River and DNA has been found upstream of electric barriers in Lake Calumet near the Indiana-Illinois border, as well as in Lake Erie. Live fish have not been found in the Great Lakes, however.
Agencies/Canadajournal
