Summit County delegation urges swift response to Asian carp threat

Published February 6, 2014 at 12:24 p.m.

By the Beacon Journal staff report

Summit County’s congressional delegation is urging swift action to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes.

U.S. Reps. Marcia Fudge, Dave Joyce, Jim Renacci and Tim Ryan have sent a joint letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in response to a recent federal study that outlined several options to stop Asian carp but didn’t recommend any best approach.

Some of the proposals could take decades to implement fully.

“To be frank, we don’t have another seven years to wait for the Army Corps to outline the best path forward,” said Joyce, R-Russell Township. “There are hundreds of thousands of jobs and over 20 percent of the world’s supply of surface fresh water at stake.”

The letter said that the Great Lakes are the “backbone” of a $7.5 billion commercial fishing industry and 800,000 jobs.

“The time to act is now,” Tim Ryan, D-Niles, said.

http://www.ohio.com/news/summit-county-delegation-urges-swift-response-to-asian-carp-threat-1.464662