Asian Carp: U.S. agencies plan to spend $60M to fight invasive fish

United States' government agencies plan to spend nearly $60 million US over the next two years in the battle to prevent invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, where scientists say they could unravel food chains and harm native fish.

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The Asian Carp Regional Co-ordinating Committee released its 2015 strategy this week.

Co-Chairman Cameron Davis says it will strengthen defences near the lakes while stepping up efforts to block the carps' path farther downstream toward the Mississippi River.

The strategy includes a study of controls at a lock and dam in Joliet, Ill., that forms a choke point between the Mississippi and Great Lakes watersheds.

It also calls for continued development of technologies to detect and control Asian carp, such as particles that would be toxic to them but not to other fish.