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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2013-09-25, Page 66 Lakeshore Advance • Wednesday, September,25l 2013 INVASIVE SPECIES 14) Asian carp have potential to destroy commercial ercial and recreational fishing on the Great Lakes Deb VanBrenk QMI Agency If only Ill .Asian carp enter the Great Lakes, there':~ a 50/50 chance these monster fish would establish an unstoppa- ble population that would dev- astate a fishing industry worth millions of dollars a year, a new study suggests. Deb Van Brenk reports, 1t can grow as big as a fourth- grade child and will eat one- third its weight each day. And only 10 of these fish together could breed their way into Great lakes infamy. '1 hat frightening (=elusion, published in a new study of a fish species from Asia, is scar- ing the cat)1 out of ()Maio dish grit's and ecologists, "itt' afraid,' says researcher Kim Cuddington, assistant pro- fessor of science at the I lniver- sity of Waterloo and author of the research study published in Biological invasions joumnl. "Demand that the govern- ments develop sufficient resources to address this." 'Potential to destroy' Commercial and recrea- tional fishing on the Great Lakes are worth billions to the economy - "and these (Asian earl)) have potential to destroy that," she said. Previous studies have sug- gested it's a matter of time before Asian carp find their 0 The Municipality of Lititibion Shores LIVING IN LAMBTON SHORES... A weekly Update on the Municipal Events m your Community Administration Department -. 7883 Andelecom Parkway. Forest, Ontano NON iJO Tel 1.877.786.2335, 519-788.2335 Fax 519.786.2135 Email edmsirstralroniniambtonshores c4i Vrsa our Web Sae al www lanbleoshons ca 3rd Annual Accessibility Tour Comes to Thedford The lambton Shores Accessibility Committee will host the 3rd Annual Accessibility Day on Saturday, September 28th from 100 to 230 pm beginning at the Village Complex (comer of Main and Peart St.) in Thodford and concluding with presentations at rho Legacy Centre at 16 Allen St , Thodlord. Tho tour will head South on Victoria Street to the Country Manor, thon East on Deacon Street to Louisa Street and North to Main Street Tho tour will continue East on Main Street to the Village Complex whore rides will bo organized, to The Legacy Centro All are welcome on the tour and to use a mobility device provided and to Join the Accessibility Committee back at (ho Legacy Contra with special guests, including Custom Mobility Adaptive Equipment Dealer, My Team Triumph Canada 1 Guest Speaker and Author: Wes Harding originally from Arkona Photographer. Stacey Loggato of Thodfod will bo Joining us to capture moments of the day as well Committee of Adjustment ... The Lambton Shores Comnitttoe of Adjustment will bo considering tho lollowing matters at the Thursday, September 26, 2013, meeting 7:05 p.m, — Joe Delmage, Agent for Gayle Delmage — A-16/2013 Minor Variance — Plan 4, West Part Lot 53. 49 Lakeside Circle. Grand Bond A full copy of the notice for this application is available on the Municipal Website or can to obtained by calling the Foust office at 786-2335 or 1-877-786-2335 The meetings aro hold at the Legacy Centro, Thomas Hall, 16 Allen Street In Thedford Ontario REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL Provision of Professional Services for the Re -Design of the Expansion and Upgrade of the Grand Bend Area Wastewater Treatment Facility, including Main Pumping Station Upgrades, MUNICIPALITY OF LAMBTON SHORES and MUNICIPALITY OF SOUTH HURON lho Municipality 01 lambkin Shores, in partnership with 11e Munkcgpaldy of South Huron invites pooposals ham engineering f1mis to provide p iolosskonal $611/1(11(111411110d lo 1110 re deign, apprmvats, re•tendenng, inspection and construction administration for the expansion 411(1 upgrade of the Grand Band Area Wastewater i (eatn1enl F aal4y located of Millard 1 no in the Municipality of South Huren 1 he contract ntrat also includes the design, approvals, tendering, inspe'l,wn and construction edmunstralkwn for upgrades to Grand Bond's Main Sanitary Pumping Station (PS•2) located al Oill Road end Mann Street East To total estimated cost of the pried, including ongmaumu design, inspecbon and administration. co struc/kwn, end contingencies, is approximately 820 OM the RFP document will be made available erne September 23. 2013 and can bo accessed at ittwAI(:ovanment / Capital Protects s 1eixtefsARFPs) All proponents must register with the Municipality using the him attached lo this RF P 10 ensure that they aro provided with anylax addenda that 410 issu0l P(01kw10nls wlw dome register may not receive any additional information or ekdnmtlums floating to this protea Submissions will be received no 1010 than 11:00 a m. Local Tian, November 1, 2013. and Shalt be eddresset to Carol McKenzie, Clark, Forest OMice, 71103 Amlelecom Parkway Forest ON, NON 1J0. Any clarification or request for additional information must be 11)'0,501 irk 1,1,,, Ii,,ui nu, dale mdk:aled in the RFP document. and must be submitted 111 wldupy by lax to 1,111.4 t„ Brent Katmer, P Eng , Dwecao of Community Savkces bkittmer®Ierbtonshoes CA Fax 519.243.3500 www Iamblonshoes ca PUBLIC MEETING - BUILDING PERMIT FEES 1 h,, r4,lunn i1 ,lliln I .unhhin ;moles mill I, n,1 cl punk mooting on Thursday. Octohrt 17th 2013 ., ' 0(11, 111 t 1 r•rnpl 1 '4 tr,,. , •n 1.1 LEAF PICKUP PROGRAM - Fall Program 2013 Lambton Shores' Residents: Pioase be advised Met leaves raked onto the street or piles in the street o ditch win rel be coMcfed This poses a danger to pedestrians, bicycles and motonsts and can causo dretnage problems leaves con be bagged for pickup by the Community Son/Ices Department This program is in effect September 30th November 22nd, and is as follows 1 All Naves must be bagged in clear plastic hags 2 Each bag must be tagged with Y, 4 garbage slicker 3 (May loaves will be pocked up. not gnitia90 a brush please 4 AII hags must be placed al the curb IN pickup 5 t naves will aro picked up sometime during the work as time and quantity ditluite 6 11 your Inavos aro missed please call 519-243-1400, tool hoe 1 888 943 1400 or 11)e muuw4141 offkvn nearest you and pk'kup will be ananget Asian Carp way into the Great lakes; this research analyzes just how few it could take to establish a stronghold. Cuddington's risk assessment deter- mined that only five mature male Asian carp and five mature female Asian cart) - and a river nearby where they could spawn - would have a 50/50 chance of establish- ing a potentially unstoppable population in the Great Lakes. And with just 20 breeding carp), there's a 75% chance of establishing a population base.' if they find a Great 1 akes home where there's warm, shallow water and plentiful food. And, yes, that's a pretty apt description of conditions in Lake Erie, Cuddington said. Water tests have turned up environmen- tal DNA evidence that suggests some carp have already entered the Great lakes. Asian carp have eaten their way up the Mississippi River system, dining on algae and plants that forth the basis of the food chain and crowding out other species. Keeping them out The biggest obstacle to their entry into the Great lakes is an electric barrier in a shipping canal that leads to lake Michigan at Chicago, Last month, an Asian carp weighing 37 kilograms and 1.3 metres long - the size of a pre -teen child - was caught In a small lake very near that barter. 1 guess the message we want to send is, Gosh, we really have to ramp up our efforts," said Cuddington, whose research was funded In part by the federal Depart- ment of Fisheries and Oceans. lust as vaccinations effectively prevent a human disease outbreak, she said, improved barriers and heightened vigi- lance are more effective at protecting the ecological health of the lakes than eradica- tion could ever become. 'Not good news' 'ihe study's findings are "absolutely not good trews," said Dennis Cartier, acting executive director of the Ontario Commer- cial Fisheries' Association. These carp breed like crazy and can mature to reproductive size within a few years, he said. "All reports are that they tend to take over areas. They're really hard on the plants and with that ability to quickly reproduce, they have the ability to push out native speck's. "'That would be devastating to the Great Lakes." Most of Ontario's 150 commercial QMI Agency fisheries would be out of business and the American recreational fishing industry on the lakes would be decimated. Cartier echoed Cuddington's insistence that more needs to be done to keep the fish at bay. lobby and counter -lobby The most effective control would be closing the canal leading to Lake Michi- gan, he said. But the shipping lobby would make that a long shot, he believes. Still, the fisheries' association continues to lobby Queen's Park and Ottawa to lobby Washington: an earnest effort that still puts them three degrees of separation from the decision -makers. "They're gambling the health of the Great lakes against the economic value of shipping;" Cartier said. Without those tight controls, the only other option would be to control the pop- ulation once it's entrenched, "sort of like us trying to stop the emerald ash borer," Cartier saki. THE FISH Four species of carp, the most destntc- tive of which are silver and bighead carp Can grow to 50 kg and eat 20% to 40% of its body weight daily Eat plants, algae at bottom) of the food chain, crowd out other species that rely on that food. THE PROBLEM in North America, they were first imported in the southern U.S. to control bottom algae in catfish ponds. When ponds flooded, fish escaped into the watersheds of the Illinois and Missis-ij sippi rivers. Over time, carp have moved upriver, taking over ecosystems Once a population is established in one Great Lake, modelling suggests they could spread through all the lakes in a decade or two, Source: Ontario Natural Resources Ministry GREAT LAKES FISHERIES 150 Ontario commercial fishing licences, with catch value of $33 million in 2011, thousands of jobs and hundreds of millions more in fish processing/sales U.S. recreational fishing and related tourists industry worth hundreds of mil- lions of dollars Iakeshoreadvance.com