A recent article in the Journal-Sentinel online reports that Asian carp DNA have been found for the first time in the Lake Michigan waters near Wisconsin. 

From JSonline: 

“The single positive water sample for the jumping silver carp was taken May 31 in Sturgeon Bay near Door County’s Potawatomi State Park.

 

The sampling was part of a Lake Michigan-wide survey looking for evidence of Eurasian ruffe, a different type of invasive fish species. The water sample was not screened for the presence of Asian carp DNA until this fall, and the DNR did not get word of the positive result until last week, said Mike Staggs, DNR’s fishery director.

 

The sample was the only positive found among the 282 water samples taken from Wisconsin’s Lake Michigan waters this year as part of an invasive fish survey conducted by government crews and researchers from the University of Notre Dame and The Nature Conservancy. Fifty of those of samples were taken in the Sturgeon Bay area.

 

Nobody is sure at this point what to make of this single piece of microscopic evidence.

There are several potential sources for the genetic scraps, including boat hulls, bird feces, or contaminated bait buckets. It could, of course, also signal the presence of a live fish.”