Skip to Content Facebook Feature Image

Great Lakes' $7 billion fishing industry may get a reprieve from the great carp invasion after all

News

Great Lakes' $7 billion fishing industry may get a reprieve from the great carp invasion after all
News

News

Great Lakes' $7 billion fishing industry may get a reprieve from the great carp invasion after all

2025-05-13 04:18 Last Updated At:04:21

A stalemate between President Donald Trump and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker that threatened a $1.2 billion plan to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes appears to have been settled after the Trump administration offered assurances it will cover its share of the costs.

After a delay that has stretched on since February, Illinois officials are set to resume closing on property they need to continue work on a project that will generate vast bubble curtains to deter the carp, stun them with electrical fields and play sound frequencies to disorient them.

Here's what to know:

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers along with state officials in Illinois and Michigan have been planning since 2020 to install a gantlet of technologies in the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois, to deter invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan.

The Corps and the states signed a deal in 2024 to work together on the project using $226 million allocated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. And elements of the Water Resources Development Act adopted last year call for the federal government to cover 90% of operating and maintenance costs.

Construction on the project began in January. Pritzker's administration was set to close in February on a parcel of property for the project and transfer it to the Corps.

Everything appeared on track until late January, when the Trump administration froze federal grants and loans as it reviewed whether spending aligned with Trump's priorities on issues such as climate change and diversity. The administration rescinded the freeze less than two days later but questions persist about the federal government's spending commitments.

Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt hotel empire and a potential 2028 Democratic presidential contender, is one of Trump’s fiercest critics. He has described the early months of the Trump administration as “true villainous cruelty by a few idiots.”

Days before Illinois was to finalize a property deal for the carp project, Pritzker hit pause and demanded assurances that the federal government would honor its spending commitment. Site preparation has continued since then, but substantial work to install technology has been on hold.

The White House issued a memo late Friday saying the Trump administration recognized the threat invasive carp pose to Great Lakes recreation and fishing and that it's committed to protecting the lakes.

The federal government is prepared to do its part so long as states cooperate, according to the memo, which calls on Illinois to complete the property deal by July 1 and promises the federal government will streamline permitting and environmental reviews.

“My Administration fully supports preventing the spread of invasive carp,” the memo said. “The State of Illinois, where the (project) is located, must cease further delay in cooperating with this effort, for the sake of its own citizens and economy and for the sake of all of the Great Lake States.”

Pritzker's office issued a news release late Friday evening saying the governor was satisfied.

Work on the project isn't slated to finish until 2032, but Joel Brammeier, president and CEO of the nonpartisan Alliance for the Great Lakes, said Monday that prospects suddenly look dramatically better than they did last week.

“We're back to business as usual. That's a good thing,” he said.

Four species of carp were imported to the U.S. from Asia in the 1960s and 1970s to clear algae from sewage ponds and fish farms in the Deep South. They escaped into the Mississippi River and have moved north into dozens of tributaries in the central U.S.

Government agencies, advocacy groups and others have long debated how to prevent the fish from reaching the Great Lakes, where scientists say they could out-compete native species for food and habitat in waterways where the fishing industry is valued at $7 billion.

A shipping canal that forms part of the link between the Mississippi and Lake Michigan has a network of fish-repelling barriers, which the Corps says is effective, but critics consider inadequate.

The new project at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam on the Des Plaines River near Joliet will provide another layer of protection at a downstream choke point between the Illinois River, which is infested with invasive carp, and Lake Michigan.

“I’m hopeful everyone is taking this project seriously now and we’re not going to see any more delays,” Brammeier said.

FILE - Asian carp are processed at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky., Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - Asian carp are processed at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky., Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

FILE - Asian carp are processed at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky, Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - Asian carp are processed at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky, Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - Asian carp are unloaded at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky, Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

FILE - Asian carp are unloaded at Two Rivers Fisheries in Wickliffe, Ky, Feb. 11, 2020. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, file)

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer topped out at 94 mph and threw 56 pitches on Friday night in his first Triple-A rehab outing since the Toronto right-hander suffered inflammation in his right thumb.

Scherzer, 40, signed a one-year, $15.5 million deal with the Blue Jays in February. Scherzer left his debut start with the team against Baltimore on March 29 after three innings because of soreness in his right lat muscle. The next day, Toronto put Scherzer on the injured list because of inflammation in his thumb.

Scherzer gave up two runs, struck out four and walked none over 4 1/3 innings in an anticipated start for Triple-A Buffalo against Columbus. He waved in appreciation to a crowd that gave him a big ovation as he walked off the field.

“Got my work in,” Scherzer told reporters in Buffalo. “You get back out there and be in a real game. It's nice to face somebody else and be in a real game.”

Scherzer did allow a 425-foot home run to one of the top 100 prospects in minor league baseball, Columbus left fielder C.J. Kayfus.

“It’ll be the most watched Triple-A game for a while,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “Or most uploaded Triple-A game.”

Schneider said ahead of Toronto's game Friday night in Philadelphia that the box score didn't matter to him. He wanted to make sure Scherzer came out of the game healthy.

“I want to see how Max feels tomorrow,” Schneider said. “I could care less about the line score. I want to see 60-65 pitches. I want to see the fastball velo is good and he's coming out healthy.”

Scherzer has had two cortisone injections this season to relieve inflammation in his thumb. He was transferred to the 60-day injured list last month, but became eligible to return May 29.

Scherzer won World Series titles with Washington in 2019 and Texas in 2023. He won his first Cy Young Award after going 21-3 with a 2.90 ERA in 32 starts for Detroit in 2013. The eight-time All-Star earned consecutive NL Cy Young Awards with Washington in 2016 and 2017.

“I'm not celebrating anything until I'm actually back in the big leagues and big league games and recovering in big league games,” Scherzer said. “The thumb issue is a serious issue. I'm still not out of the woods.”

Schneider said Scherzer would likely need one more rehab start before he can join the Blue Jays' rotation. The Blue Jays are in second place behind the Yankees in the AL East.

“The plan right now is to meet us here and probably throw a bullpen and then go back and do another one,” Schneider said.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

FILE - Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws during the first inning of baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Toronto. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

FILE - Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Max Scherzer (31) throws during the first inning of baseball game against the Baltimore Orioles Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Toronto. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press via AP, File)

Recommended Articles