MySplice Blog

I have been debating on whether or not I should post this, because I have a feeling it’s going to cause a big stir, but after thinking about it a lot for weeks, I’ve decided to go ahead. I think the public needs to know this so we can stop wasting time arguing over closing the Chicago Locks and start dealing with the real problem we already have, the problem that we act like we don’t have.

There’s a big controversey brewing between Michigan and the City of Chicago over the Chicago Locks. The big fear is the 7 billion dollar fishing industry.

The fear stems from the Asian Carp making their way up the Illinois River which directly connects with the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal. An electric fish fence is in place and I’ve been through it on my boat about 6 times in the last few years. It’s a little nerve wrecking to travel through electrified water. The purpose of the fish fence is to stop the Asian Carp from continuing their way up river and into the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal, which directly connects with the Chicago River and into Lake Michigan through a set of locks.

Here’s the problem. First of all, there is another connecting waterway just past the fish fence too, so if the Chicago Locks were closed the Asian Carp could simply swim through the O’Brien Lock & Dam which is on the Calumet River. The Calumet River connects to the Little Calumet River, and then to the Calumet-Sag Channel which directly connects to the Chicago Sanitary & Ship Canal! So closing Chicago’s Locks means the fish enter the other way.

Secondly, the Asian Carp are already in Lake Michigan. They were found there by the fishing public at the Hammond Marina in Hammond, Indiana in the summer of 2009, so it’s already too late.

Myself, and my family, keep our yacht at the Hammond Marina in the summer and on the Calumet-Sag Channel in the winter. My own kids caught the Asian Carp on the Bin Wall (Large walkable break wall around the marina). Hammond Marina is on Lake Michigan next to the Horseshoe Casino Hammond.

I decided to say something because I’m tired of hearing about all the controversey over the Asian Carp and the Chicago Locks. It’s already too late. I often wonder if this is political. Millions of dollars are being put into all this, but they’re already there and I have a hard time believing they don’t know it. The Department of Natural Resources knows it, that I’m sure of, because they told a whole group of us that if we catch any more to throw them on the concrete for the Seagulls to eat. Hey, lets spend a few million on Seagull importation now too, right?