I'm into agronomy, not an ichthyology, so I may be a bit out of my area of expertise here...

The problem is fish (by the way, that's what an ichthyologist studies) are threatening to cause some problems for farmers here in the Midwest.

The particular fish in question here is the Asian carp, a non-native species that is very large and breeds like rabbits – and is now threatening to spread into the Great Lakes, which just happen to be a major transportation route for U.S. and Canadian agricultural products heading out to world markets. This problem is a classic example of what happens when Homo (so-called) Sapiens thinks he's smarter than Mother Nature.

The story began about thirty-five years ago when catfish farmers imported these carp from China (where they've been raised for domestic consumption since the Liao Dynasty) for the purpose of keeping their ponds free of algae and other crap that hangs around. Then, about twenty years ago, there were a series of serious floods in and around the Mississippi Basin. The catfish ponds overflowed and the carp got into the rivers.

Over the past several years, these marine pests have been swimming northward – and earlier this year, started showing up in the Illinois River (which is actually a canal that connects Lake Michigan to the Mississippi).

Okay – but Lake Michigan is a big place. What's the problem?

The problem is that the Great Lakes have a specific, delicately balanced ecosystem that has been in places for millions of years. With their leviathan-like appetites and rabbit-like reproductive rate, these carp could conceivably wipe out all native species in the Great Lakes within a dozen years – or less. And we have no way of knowing what the long-term consequences of that might be.

Remember, this doesn't just affect Illinois farmers – Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York all depend on these waterways for transportation as well as recreation – and food. But here's the bigger problem; a lot of folks have decided that the solution is to close down the waterway. The reason: "protect the jobs and ecology that depend on the health of the Great Lakes" (from an online petition). All well and good, but what is that going to do to farmers and the few manufacturers that haven't relocated to China – who depend on export revenue? 

I'm guessing that agricultural and industrial goods could still be shipped overland by rail or truck to Atlantic or Gulf Coast ports – but that's going to cost a lot more and seriously eat into our profit margins. As it is, shipping traffic between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan is being restricted by the U.S. Coast Guard at behest of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources.

On the other side, Tim Lenz of the Illinois Corn Growers Association and Phil Nelson of the state Farm Bureau are speaking up as well, urging officials and engineers to find another way.

Of course, if folks hadn't started farming catfish (farmed fish is a bad idea for many reasons) and brought the damn carp over in the first place, this wouldn't even have been an issue...