This morning, the Associated Press reported that the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee confirmed that a live Asian carp was discovered below the T.J. O’Brien Lock and Dam, nine miles from Lake Michigan and below electric barriers designed to stop invasive species transfer within the Chicago Area Waterway System.

“The discovery of a live Asian carp just nine miles from Lake Michigan and beyond the electric barriers makes it all the more critical that we add additional defenses to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes,” said Mike Shriberg, executive director for the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes Regional Center. “The electric barriers are not sufficient to stop Asian carp on their own. We call upon the administration to release the draft study on improving defenses at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam without delay to protect the jobs, economy, and way of life for the people of the Great Lakes region.”

A bipartisan coalition of legislators introduced the Stop Asian Carp Now Act earlier on Wednesday to compel the release of the draft Brandon Road study by the Army Corps of Engineers, which the Trump administration unexpectedly delayed in late February.

The National Wildlife Federation, in collaboration with Prairie Rivers Network and the Michigan United Conservation Clubs, recently launched an online video series highlighting the jobs and recreational tourism industry at risk if Asian carp invade the Great Lakes.