Politics & Government

Resolution Seeks To Keep 110-lb. Fish Out of Lake Erie

Councilwoman leads way to block Asian Carp from entering Lake Erie.

Although only five Asian Carp have been identified in Lake Erie, Councilwoman Jennifer Fenderbosch wants to send out a message: These invasive fish, which grown as large as 110 pounds, are not welcome in Lake Erie.

passed a resolution April 11 urging “immediate action” from the state of Ohio and the federal government to close the locks in Illinois and put in dam structures preventing any water flow between Lake Michigan and associated waterways.

Vermilion already passed a similar resolution.

Find out what's happening in Avon-Avon Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“Lake Erie has the most to lose,” Fenderbosch told council members, a week after giving a presentation on how the Asian Carp, which can eat 40 percent of their body weight a day, can cause serious injury to Ohio’s $17 billion dollar lake industry. 

“They compete for the same fish. We could lose walleye, bass and perch,” Fenderbosch previously said.

Find out what's happening in Avon-Avon Lakewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

That isn’t the only threat. The resolution cites a potential danger to those recreating on Lake Erie.

“The silver variety of the Asian Carp has caused serious bodily harm to people by being startled by the sound of a boat motor causing them to leap as high as 10 feet out of the water,” the resolution states. “They land in boats, jet skis and water skis damaging property and injuring people.”

Council members unanimously passed the resolution, which does not create any law, but instead asks for government support.

Councilman Tim Rush noted that preventing the transfer from one body of water from boats could be difficult.

“They’re always going to be dumping ballast water,” Rush said.

Fenderbosch is hoping state and federal authorities take a proactive approach.

“Five (Asian Carp) were discovered last year,” Fenderbosch said. “The (Ohio) Sea Grant (Program) is monitoring this, there’s not enough of a population explosion yet.”

Asian Carp is the latest concern to Lake Erie. In 1988, the zebra mussel was transported to North America in the ballast water of a transatlantic freighter, colonizing in Lake St. Clair.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, it took less than 10 years for zebra mussels to spread to all five Great Lakes and into the Mississippi, Tennessee, Hudson and Ohio River Basins. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimate economic damages to be in the billions of dollars over the next 10 years to U.S. and Canadian water users in the Great Lakes region.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

More from Avon-Avon Lake