Minnesota’s attorney general today is joining the fight to keep the invasive Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.
The Asian carp is known for depleting bodies of water of nutrients, in part, because the fish has no known predators in North America.
Earlier this month, one of the destructive carp was found in an Illinois canal just 40 miles from Lake Michigan. Since then, Michigan and Ohio’s attorneys general have filed court documents with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking Illinois to do everything in its power to stop the carp from reaching the Great Lakes.
Now, Minnesota is weighing in. Lori Swanson is that state’s attorney general.
SWANSON: You can’t put toothpaste back in the tube on these Asian carp. Once they invade a water source, it’s very difficult to get rid of them, so the idea is, let’s see if we can act to prevent them from invading the Great Lakes in the first place.
Swanson wants Illinois to close off the canals leading into Lake Michigan, something the barge industry says would cost Midwestern industrial plants millions. Swanson says the Supreme Court is expected to address the issue in January.