TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. — November 5, 2013 — A water sample from Lake Michigan's Sturgeon Bay in Wisconsin has tested positive for DNA from invasive Asian carp, although it's unknown whether the genetic material came from a live fish, scientists said Tuesday.
It's the second positive DNA hit for the feared carp detected in Lake Michigan in recent years, as experts work to determine how far the voracious fish have advanced toward the Great Lakes. A water sample taken in 2010 from the lake's Calumet Harbor also yielded a positive result.
Four types of Asian carp imported decades ago have escaped into the wild and migrated northward in the Mississippi River and many of its tributaries. Of particular concern are bighead and silver carp, which gobble huge amounts of plankton — microscopic plants and animals that are essential for aquatic food chains. Scientists fear if they reach the Great Lakes, they could out-compete native species and threaten a fishing industry valued at $7 billion.
An electric barrier in a shipping canal 37 miles from Chicago is meant to block their path toward Lake Michigan. Just one live Asian carp has been found beyond that point, although numerous DNA samples have turned up past the barrier and in Lake Erie.
Scientists say fish DNA is found in mucus, scales and bodily wastes they discharge. But some say there could be other sources, such as droppings of birds that have eaten the fish, so it isn't certain that the Sturgeon Bay discovery signals the presence of live Asian carp, much less a breeding population.
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