FOR IMMEDIATE RELASE:
\nOct. 30, 2013<\/p>\n
QUEEN\u2019S PARK \u2013 In the wake of four grass carp \u2013 a species of Asian carp – found to be reproducing in Ohio\u2019s Sandusky River, Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett is calling for a full frontal assault on the invaders and re-allocating the necessary resources to the Ministry of Natural Resources for the battle.<\/p>\n
The grass carp were caught in the Sandusky River in October 2012 by a commercial fisherman. It was confirmed on October 28 of this year that the fish were born and raised in the river. This is the first confirmed reproduction of any Asian carp species in the Great Lakes, or its tributaries.<\/p>\n
Asian carp were originally imported to the southern United States to help control vegetation in aquaculture and wastewater treatment retention ponds. Some of the fish escaped into the Mississippi River system, and then subsequently north to the Missouri and Illinois Rivers. An electronic barrier is all that is keeping Asian carp from entering Lake Michigan through the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal. A chain link fence is the only barrier in Indiana\u2019s Eagle March, where flood waters could allow Asian carp direct access into Lake Erie.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have long feared the day when Asian carp start reproducing in the Great Lakes,\u201d Barrett said. \u201cThe potential for disaster is there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Besides an overall concern for the health of the Great Lakes, Barrett is concerned of the implications on the $7 billion sports fishery and $234 million commercial fishery. Both commercial and sports angling are important economic drivers within the riding. Both bighead and silver carp can wipe out plankton and other small aquatic organisms that are at the base of the food chain for native fish.<\/p>\n
In addition, grass carp have the potential to wipe out entire plant communities in Long Point\u2019s Inner Bay, Rondeau Bay and Lake St. Clair. Long Point is recognized as one of the most important stopover areas for migrating waterfowl in eastern North America. This could impact waterfowl on a continental scale.<\/p>\n
Asian carp now make up more than 80 per cent of the biomass in some river systems where they are established.<\/p>\n
\u201cBillions and billions in tourism and fishery dollars are at stake,\u201d Barrett said in the Legislature. \u201cWe need action, not more environmental laws or strategies or panels or dithering. We need an MNR bill to put invasive species on the front burner and make it a top priority. It\u2019s an MNR issue, not environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Two grass carp caught in the mouth of the Grand River near where it enters Lake Erie have been confirmed to be sterile. In some American states bordering Lake Erie, it is legal to release grass carp, confirmed sterile, for vegetation control. In Ontario, it is illegal to possess live Asian carp. Barrett has called for intensified lobbying to ban all possession of live grass carp in the American states.<\/p>\n
\u201cMinistry staff need the reallocated financial resources to deal with it,\u201d Barrett said Tuesday night. \u201cIt needs to be a government priority. Put the focus on Great Lakes protection. The wolf is truly at the door. This will cripple the Great Lakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
To combat the invasion, Barrett suggested MNR follow through on its own suggestion to require all Asian carp coming into Ontario for food to be gutted. The latter suggestion came in the wake of several Toronto businesses being charged for attempting to bring live fish across the border despite heavy fines to discourage the practice.<\/p>\n
Despite Barrett\u2019s insistence that invasive species are an MNR issue and Asian carp didn\u2019t play a large enough role in the Great Lakes Protection Act, his question, oddly, was answered by Phil McNeely, the Parliamentary Assistant to the Minister of the Environment rather than by the Minister of Natural Resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just don\u2019t get it and aren\u2019t putting the emphasis on Asian carp it needs\u201d Barrett said. \u201cThis is the largest threat to the Great Lakes ever \u2013 bar none!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n-30-
\nFOR MORE INFORMATION
\nContact MPP Toby Barrett at 519-428-0446<\/p>\n
\n
OFFICIAL HANSARD
\nLEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO<\/p>\n
Monday, October 28
\nINVASIVE SPECIES
\nMr. Toby Barrett: To the Premier: People are concerned about serious threats to our Great
\nLakes, and your government seems paralyzed as far as taking any action. I don\u2019t see any action.
\nYou talk about your strategy, your goals, your intentions, setting up panels but no action where
\nimmediate action in conjunction with Great Lakes states and the federal government is crucial
\nand long overdue.
\nYou have tabled yet another environmental bill, previously killed by prorogation, a bill setting up
\nmore panels, a guardian council.
\nPremier, this all does nothing to deal with the clear and present danger of an invasion of Asian
\ncarp. Grass carp and bighead carp are already in Lake Erie. Silver carp\u2014these are the ones that
\njump 10 feet out of the water\u2014and black carp are on their way. What have you done about
\nthose?
\nHon. Kathleen O. Wynne: Minister of the Environment.
\nHon. James J. Bradley: In regard to the second part, I\u2019ll refer that to the Minister of Natural
\nResources. But this is quite rich coming from a political party and a caucus that voted against the
\nGreat Lakes Protection Act, widely hailed by a good cross-section of the people of the province
\nof Ontario as yet another positive step in protecting the Great Lakes. Two of the parties in this
\nHouse, the Liberal Party\u2014the government\u2014and the New Democratic Party, voted in favour of
\nthe legislation, bringing it to committee for further consideration and representation. I find it
\npassing strange that the member would ask a question about the Great Lakes when, in fact, his
\nparty is opposing a major initiative designed to protect the Great Lakes in the province of
\nOntario. It once again demonstrates how difficult it is to be part of a party that wants you\u2014
\nThe Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. Supplementary?
\nMr. Toby Barrett: Premier, with all due respect, this is an MNR issue; this isn\u2019t an
\nenvironmental issue. Two Asian carp, the grass carp, have now been found in my riding at the
\nmouth of Grand River, down on Lake Erie. Three Asian bighead carp have been found in
\nwestern Lake Erie. These and the silver carp, the jumpers, and the black carp can access Lake
\nMichigan through the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Asian carp can also get directly into
\nLake Erie from Eagle Marsh. This invasion of Asian carp will be devastating to our Great Lakes.
\nThey eat everything.
\nPremier, billions and billions of tourism fishery dollars are at stake. We need action, not more
\nenvironmental laws, strategies, panels or dithering. This is an MNR issue, not Environment. Why
\nwill you not marshal the resources, take action, work with the Great Lakes states, work with both
\nlevels of federal government on both sides of the border\u2014
\nThe Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you.
\nMr. Toby Barrett: Put your MNR guy to work\u2014
\nThe Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. When I stand, everyone sits.
\nMinister.
\nHon. James J. Bradley: Minister of Natural Resources.
\nHon. David Orazietti: I appreciate the question from the member opposite. This is something
\nthat we do take very seriously with respect to the protection of our natural resources with respect
\nto the Great Lakes. I should tell you that the Premier met with the Great Lakes governors,
\nprobably the first time this meeting has taken place in nearly a decade, on Mackinac Island in the
\nMackinac straits just recently. I can tell you that our government is working closely with the
\nfederal government and with border enforcement officers as well.
\nIn fact, we have intercepted 39,000 pounds of Asian carp destined for Ontario markets at the
\nborder. We have established an Invasive Species Research Centre, and we are deploying staff
\nand resources necessary to help prevent the spread of Asian carp in our lakes. As well, MNR has
\nimplemented an Asian carp response plan in partnership with DFO.
\nWe deployed field crews to the Grand River, and the testing on this carp was that the carp was
\nsterile and non-productive. We\u2019re going to continue to monitor\u2014
\nThe Speaker (Hon. Dave Levac): Thank you. New question.<\/p>\n
Tuesday, October 29
\nINVASIVE SPECIES
\nThe Acting Speaker (Mrs. Julia Munro): Our third question this evening comes from the
\nmember for Haldimand\u2013Norfolk. He has given his notice of dissatisfaction with the answer to his
\nquestion given by the Minister of the Environment on Asian carp in the Great Lakes. You have
\nup to five minutes to make your comments.
\nMr. Toby Barrett: My late show question is to the Minister of Natural Resources, because the
\nthreat of an Asian carp invasion\u2014the question I asked yesterday\u2014is an MNR issue; it\u2019s not
\nenvironment.
\nYesterday, the United States Geological Survey issued a statement that four Asian grass carp
\ncaught by a commercial fisherman in October 2012 had lived in the Sandusky watershed their
\nentire lives. If true, that means that there are Asian grass carp reproducing in Great Lakes
\ntributaries.
\nAsian carp\u2014the black, the bighead, the silver and the grass carp\u2014are, in my view, the largest
\nthreat that the Great Lakes has ever known. These fish reproduce explosively. They consume so
\nmuch food that the Great Lakes ecosystem could be devastated.
\nThe Ohio Sandusky River is a tributary flowing into western Lake Erie. Western Lake Erie is the
\nnursery, the spawning bed, for many species that inhabit the entire lake. If the grass carp
\npopulation explodes, it can devastate the marshes and the vegetation of shallow Lake Erie when
\nit spreads. It will favour the warm, vegetation-filled waters of Lake St. Clair, Rondeau Bay and
\nLong Point Bay.
\nThat same vegetation makes those areas an important stopover for migrating waterfowl. Long
\nPoint Bay is considered one of the top staging areas for migratory waterfowl in eastern North
\nAmerica. My father was employed by the Long Point Co. Dedicated duck hunters come from
\nacross Canada, the United States and England because it\u2019s such good hunting. The impact of
\ngrass carp could be huge and far-reaching. It could impact waterfowl on a continental scale.
\nI understand that the lab at the University of Windsor was crucial in reaching the conclusion that
\nthe grass carp involved in yesterday\u2019s announcement were born and bred in the Sandusky River.
\nThat\u2019s money well spent, investing to make the University of Windsor a research leader, but
\nwhy, when the fish were caught last year, has it taken a year to get results? I imagine some of
\nthese processes take time, but we should be on top of this. It has to be a priority.
\nAgain, I ask the MNR, what are you doing to make this a cross-border, cross-lake priority? It\u2019s
\non American soil, but our Great Lakes are a shared resource. Again, I ask MNR, what is your
\nplan to prevent the further spread of Asian carp? Billions and billions in tourism and fishery
\ndollars are at stake. We need action, not more environmental laws or strategies or panels or
\ndithering. We need an MNR bill to put invasive species on the front burner and make it a top
\npriority. It\u2019s an MNR issue, not environment.
\nMinistry staff need the reallocated financial resources to deal with it. It needs to be a government
\npriority. Put the focus on Great Lakes protection. The wolf is truly at the door. This will cripple
\nthe Great Lakes. There\u2019s a $7-billion sports fishery, a $234-million commercial fishery, and this
\nis above the $7 billion, year after year, that potentially could be lost through tourism and
\neconomic activity.
\nWe know that in the coming months scientists will look at how grass carp became established in
\nthe Sandusky. No one knows the outcome. It\u2019s likely a human-assisted introduction, perhaps
\nthrough Eagle Marsh, which is connecting the Mississippi watershed with the Great Lakes. I
\nlearned of that potential invasion route from Professor David Frew of Mercyhurst college in Erie,
\nPennsylvania.
\nOf course, the concern as well is the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal. Electronic barriers are
\nbeing employed there.
\nA fence was built across Eagle Marsh. I think that marsh should be drained. There\u2019s talk of
\nbuilding a berm. There is a problem, and I acknowledge that a lot of it is due to American
\npolitics not dealing with separating these two watersheds.
\nTwo grass carp were discovered in my riding. These ones were sterile, but they were at Lake
\nErie, at the mouth of the Grand River. I know the Ministry of Natural Resources has
\naccomplished a number of other measures\u2014to gut these fish, for example, to make sure that they
\nare dead when they come in\u2014but things are being circumvented.
\nI\u2019ll just very quickly quote the Toledo Blade with respect to Asian carp becoming established. As
\nthey say, this could be a \u201cdisaster of biblical proportions.\u201d
\nThank you, Speaker.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"