Last September, experts and stakeholders met to discuss ways to reduce Asian carp numbers by marketing the fish. In the months that followed, many who attended have been working hard to make the proposed solutions a reality.

At the marketing summit, which was organized by Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG), participants agreed that high-value Asian carp fillets marketed to restaurants and retailers may provide the financial incentive for extensive harvesting of these fish. Looking to have immediate impact, they also recommended that whole fish be exported in high numbers to Asian markets, where these species are already popular food fish. Finally, they recommended converting Asian carp by-products into pet food or treats to eliminate waste and maximize profit opportunities.

The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) is now developing programs to help further the goals laid out during the summit. Tom Heavisides, IDNR contaminants assessment manager, said the organization is starting three pilot programs for this fall. They include an Asian carp food-handling training program, as well as another that will study marketing the invasive species. IDNR will also support researchers who will go to a pool of the Illinois River and study how pulling out Asian carp will ecologically affect the waters. All three projects are expected to be wrapped up by December.

The summit also provided opportunities to move new projects or plans forward. For example, Louisiana Sea Grant Fisheries Specialist Julie Anderson had been developing a plan with Operation Blessing, a non-profit organization, to send canned Asian carp to Haiti, where food is certainly needed and canned fish is preferred.

“At this point, we have been trying to pursue finding a company that is interested in doing the canning operation,” Anderson said.

The idea of marketing Asian carp has also received significant media exposure since the summit. For example, the New York Times recently published the article “Answer for Invasive Species: Put It on a Plate and Eat It.” However, this idea is not without controversy. IISG Aquatic Invasives Coordinator Pat Charlebois said some Great Lakes states are concerned about the idea of marketing Asian carp, but she believes there may not be any other options in the case of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

“The only other way to do this, I believe, is to harvest these fish and leave them on a shore or landfill to rot,” she said. “But that’s such a waste and all that harvesting is an expensive proposition.”

Charlebois said some are afraid that people will begin transplanting the species to other areas if there is a market for them, which would only intensify the problem.

“One of the reasons common carp were introduced here was because Europeans wanted food fish that they were familiar with,” Charlebois said. “It is historically a way these species have been spread. But I think there are ways we can reduce that risk.”

Ron Brooks, the fisheries division director for Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, has been diligently working on the Asian Carp issue for years, even before the invasive species was making big headlines. He said he is hoping to shift focus away from the Great Lakes to the states of the lower basin.

“Our message is pretty simple: If you don’t control the Asian carp numbers down here, you are never going to keep them out of the Great Lakes,” Brooks said. “If we don’t do something to crop off the spread of Asian carp, they are going to keep spreading. That is what they do; they stay in an area until they run out of food and then move on.”

However, Brooks added that funding right now is the major roadblock, but he hopes the summit will inspire people to get out and work on the problem.

“The meeting got all the stakeholders together to talk about this issue. It gave a good perspective from all sides,” he said. “But the commercial fishermen and the managers are out there every day, and they know something has to be done right now.”

The two-day summit took place at the Lewis and Clark Community College in Godfrey, Illinois, with sponsorship from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and the National Great Rivers Research and Education Center. 

What do ibuprofen, acetaminophen, antidepressants, methylphenidate (used to treat ADHD), anti-diabetic drugs, and vitamin D derivatives all have in common?
They are all on the top 10 list of human medications that poison pets according to the ASPCA’s Animal Poison Control Center.

“It is extremely important that people properly store and dispose of their medications”, said Laura Kammin, IISG pollution prevention specialist, “it doesn’t matter whether the medicine is intended for people or pets.”

For several years now, IISG has been providing people with science-based information on how to properly store and dispose of their unused medications, including pet medications. “We are always looking for new partners to help us educate people on this issue,” said Kammin. And partnering with vets is exactly what IISG is beginning to do, starting with an exhibitor’s booth at the American Veterinary Medical Association Convention that took place in St. Louis, MO on July 16–18.

Over 8,500 veterinarians, veterinary technicians, veterinary students, and some families attended the convention, many of whom walked the exhibitor’s hall and saw the IISG display. Kammin, along with IISG staff members Robin Goettel, and Terri Hallesy, spoke with 168 attendees from 31 states, Canada, Egypt, and Brazil about how they can start incorporating the message of proper storage and disposal into information they provide their clients.

Many of the people were aware of the issue, and were excited to see materials that could help them educate their clients. Karen Liljebjelke, DVM, commented, “In the three vet med courses I teach at the University of Calgary, I not only share information about the proper use of pet medicine, but also make sure to discuss proper disposal techniques.” She added that IISG fact sheets and service-learning curriculum will be useful to her students.

As a result of Sea Grant’s participation in the meeting, C. Trenton Boyd, a veterinary medical librarian, will help distribute information on this topic by sharing posts through the International Veterinary Librarians Discussion Group, a forum reaching hundreds of professionals in university veterinary schools.

You too can do your part. Following a few simple steps can help prevent negative environmental impacts, accidental poisoning of people and pets, and diversion and abuse. Simply take back unused medications (for people or pets) to a local collection program. If a collection program is not available in your area, take the medication out of the original container, mix the medicine with used coffee grounds or cat litter in a sealable plastic bag, and place the bag in a sealed container such as a coffee can or margarine tub. In the case of prescription medication, be sure to mark out any personal information on the pill bottle before depositing it in the trash.

A festival might seem like an unlikely place to find a medicine collection event. But on July 9th, Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant and the West Lafayette Police Department hosted a medicine collection event at Wabash Riverfest in Tapawingo Park, West Lafayette, Indiana.

“An event like Riverfest is a fun way to educate people about steps they can take to improve water quality in their community,” said Laura Kammin, IISG pollution prevention program specialist. “Many people know not to flush their unused medicines, but they don’t necessarily know the options for disposal in their area. These events really help get the word out,” she said. Volunteers collected 30 pounds of medicine brought in by festival participants.

Hundreds of families enjoyed the festivities including canoe races, food and music, and educational booths and games. Nearly 200 people engaged in the IISG display and game, Get Rid of Stuff Sensibly, which provides information about what to do with unwanted medicine, electronics, aquarium fish and more. More than 150 kids played the program’s Stop, Droplet and Roll in Pollution game, which educates kids and their parents about the effects pollutants can have on our waterways.

“One of the event organizers came up to us at the end of the day to see what everyone was ‘oohing and aahing’ about, and people seemed to really enjoy the game”, said Carolyn Foley, IISG assistant research coordinator at Purdue University. “I also heard many parents say, ‘I’d never thought about the medicines…’, so I’m hopeful that we did have an impact.”

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

Even as the federal government insists its electric fish barrier is working just fine, evidence of Asian carp above that barrier continues to roll in.

With no fanfare, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers posted on its website this week news that nine water samples taken above the barrier in recent weeks have tested positive for the giant, jumping fish. The federal government is spending tens of millions of dollars to keep them out of the Great Lakes.

Seven of those positive “environmental” DNA tests – taken between May 10 and June 27 – came from Lake Calumet south of downtown Chicago, a body of water that has a direct connection to Lake Michigan. Read more.

At the recent National Marine Educators Meeting in Boston, Lisa Chizek, a 5th and 6th grade teacher from Iowa joined other teachers to learn about the new curriculum, Fresh and Salt, which connects Great Lakes and ocean sciences. IISG’s Terri Hallesy, education specialist, led this session. Here are some comments from Lisa:

“I am so excited to have these wonderful and effective resources to help connect my students with the Great Lakes and Ocean Literacy Principles. I believe we are so interconnected with the Great Lakes and the ocean that it is very necessary for everyone to become literate about how these wonderful bodies of water affect our planet in so many ways and how we affect them. It is very important to me, as a person who wants my students to be able to understand and think critically about our world, to help my students become literate with these principles.

“Learning about our planet’s great bodies of water is a responsibility of every member of society. Living in land-locked Iowa does not diminish this responsibility or make it irrelevant. We are all interconnected with these bodies of water. I plan to incorporate these wonderful lessons in both my 5th and 6th grade classes.”

From the New York Times:

With its dark red and black stripes, spotted fins and long venomous black spikes, the lionfish seems better suited for horror films than consumption. But lionfish fritters and filets may be on American tables soon.

An invasive species, the lionfish is devastating reef fish populations along the Florida coast and into the Caribbean. Now, an increasing number of environmentalists, consumer groups and scientists are seriously testing a novel solution to control it and other aquatic invasive species — one that would also takes pressure off depleted ocean fish stocks: they want Americans to step up to their plates and start eating invasive critters in large numbers. Read more.

URBANA – In the fight for holding the line on aquatic invasive species, it is crucial to make sure people are not accidentally transporting these organisms by not removing them from their boats. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) and the Northeast Illinois Invasive Plant Partnership (NIIPP) have officially launched their “Clean Boats, Clean Waters” program, which aims to inform boaters of preventative measures.

“To quote Benjamin Franklin, ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,’” said Cathy McGlynn, the NIIPP coordinator. “And that definitely is the case with invasive species.”
Clean Boats, Clean Waters representatives will be at Hammond Marina on July 16-17, the East Chicago Marina on July 23-24, and the Illiana Yacht Club/Wolf Lake on July 30-31. During these times, McGlynn said they will quickly talk with boaters about the program, as well as give them a brochure and sticker that give tips on keeping boats and equipment clean. She added that the first outreach trip was done on July 2-3 at North Point Marina in Winthrop Harbor.

“The majority of the boaters were responsive, and a good number of them already take precautions, which is great,” McGlynn said, adding that they talked to more than 100 people each day.

Since this is the program’s pilot year in both Illinois and Indiana, it will only be in one county in each state for the first two years. However, NIIPP and IISG are hoping to partner with more organizations to make the program self-sustaining, as well as extend the program across more counties in the two states. This effort has been already implemented in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant won two APEX 2011 Awards for Publication Excellence, both in the category Green Materials. Irene Miles, communication coordinator, and Susan White, graphic designer, won for the IISG impact statement series titled Impacts: Today and Tomorrow. These four publications describe the program’s success stories and ongoing projects related to aquatic invasive species, unused medicines, land use planning, and water resources. 

The second APEX award goes to Robin Goettel, associate director for education, for the 4-H curriculum Sensible Disposal of Unwanted Medicines. This booklet provides five inquiry-based lessons to help high school youth understand the harmful effects of improper disposal of medicines and what they can do to help. Robin shares this award with Natalie Carroll of Purdue University Extension, Whitney Siegfried, who is now at the University of South Dakota, and Deb Eisenmann, a freelance designer. 

From Great Lakes Echo:

Before the wells dry up and the sewers overflow, a northwest Chicago suburb has teamed up with an all-star squad of planners to guide future water policy and use.

The small village of Lake Zurich gets drinking water from an aquifer that is pumped faster than it can recharge, according to studies. The water also has low levels of radium, which means treatment and extra costs for the village.

And the village’s sewer system is strained to capacity, stirring fears of a double digit sewage rate increase to fix the problem, said Rich Sustich, village trustee, who is spearheading the water planning effort.

“When you have this nexus of issues like we have – drinking water, storm water and wastewater, it forces out-of-the-box thinking,” Sustich said.

In January, Illinois approved Lake Zurich and nine other communities in the northeastern part of the state to tap Lake Michigan for water because of growing concern that the groundwater they use now will dry up. Studies indicate that population and economic growth will cause water use to increase even if conservation measures are taken.

Lake Zurich is not ruling out sticking a straw into Lake Michigan, but has decided to take a more calculated approach.

“Most people don’t realize that there are substantial costs to get drinking water from Lake Michigan,” Sustich said. “You don’t just tap right in.” Read more.