Tests For Asian Carp “Negative” in Michigan Waterways
So last year and the year before there was a lot of talk of the Asian Carp infiltrating the Michigan lakes and rivers and threatening fish. Some of these fish have infiltrated other waterways around America and have made damage to other less aggressive fish, threatening the ecosystem as well as fishermen who can't catch enough fish.
Well according to WILX, there was testing done in three southwestern Michigan waterways and it turned up no trace of Asian carp. The Michigan Dept of Natural Resources have taken over 300 water samples from the Kalamazoo River as well as Spring Lake and Lake Macatawa and have no traces or positive traces of the carp. The Michigan DNR will step up their monitoring as well as netting, if positive tests are found, to catch any Asian carp that might be in the area.
The Michigan DNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service monitor Great Lakes tributaries for markers or anything that might be left by these carp. If they find genetic markers from the Carp it may impact the fish in that tributary as the bighead and silver Carp are very aggressive and often beat our native fish for food. More on it here.