Army Corps Will Meet in St. Paul On Keeping Lake Species Out Of Mississippi

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will hold a meeting in St. Paul Monday on how to reduce the risk of invasive species moving between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins.

Previously, the meetings have been held in cities nearer the Great Lakes.

The Corps and a White House agency have been holding meetings on a series of options for reducing the inter-basin spread of Asian carp and 12 other aquatic species.

Corps project manager Dave Wethington said preventing Asian carp from getting into the Great Lakes might make headlines, but keeping about 10 lake species out of the Mississippi is important, too.

“While we can’t say for certain what may happen, the fact that a species comes into a non-native environment and has the ability to establish … there may certainly be impacts that are undesirable,” Wethington said.

Wethington won’t say which of the potentially river bound species cause him the most concern, but the government’s list includes the Tubenose Goby and ruffe: fish that have harmed parts of the Great Lakes.

Congress may eventually act on the inter-basin recommendations.