Skyway Yacht Works - Asian Carp

Quinn: Catch Asian carp, send them to China
July 13, 2010 12:28 PM | No Comments | UPDATED STORY
Gov. Pat Quinn today signed an agreement with China to export as much as 30 million pounds of Asian carp a year from the Illinois River, a move aimed at reducing the population of the invasive species downstate.

Flanked by state lawmakers and business leaders from Illinois and China, Quinn said of the Asian carp crisis, "if you can't beat 'em, eat 'em."
Illinois is investing $2 million to upgrade the facilities at Big River Fisheries in downstate Pearl, a fish processing plant that already ships millions of pounds of Asian carp to China and other countries each year.

By expanding their capabilities, Quinn said, Big River hopes to process and ship 30 million pounds of Asian carp to upscale restaurants in China by 2011. At full capacity, Big River could process up to 50 million pounds of fish, said Ross Harano, director of international sales for Big River.

The investment will also bring as much as 180 new jobs to the riverside communities of Pearl and Pittsfield, where Big River's production facilities are located.

"We believe the people of China who like to eat Asian carp will find this is the best anywhere on Earth," Quinn said.

Indeed, the plan is to market Asian carp caught in Illinois as wild grown fish to upscale restaurants in China, Harano said. That's the only way to offset the added costs of catching the fish locally and shipping it overseas.

"Just like people pay a premium for Angus beef, we believe people will pay a premium for this," Harano said. "We're marketing it as "Wild Mississippi River Fish'. It's all in how you market it over there."

--Joel Hood

Terry Doyle
Calumet River Fleeting Inc.
10048 S Indianapolis Avenue
Chicago, IL 60617
773.721.1600/773.721.0281

April 19,2010

Illinois SG Mike Scodro just called to say that the Carp case has been taken off today’s docket and moved to the conference for next Friday Apr. 23. We were speculating that this may indicate that the Court is writing an opinion that it plans to issue along with an order dismissing the petition to reopen. We may see an order on the 26th, but if the court isn’t ready it will keep kicking the case over to later conferences until it is. I once saw that happen over eight successive conferences, so the timing is up in the air.

We were also speculating that if EPA continues to take no action on closing the locks, Michigan’s AG will be under pressure to file suit in district court if his Supreme Court case is dismissed. My reading is that Scodro expects a new suit to be filed if the Supreme Court dismisses

Tim Bishop
Mayer Brown LLP
71 S. Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60606
312-701-7829

Study puts cost of closing locks to keep out carp at $4.7B

April 7, 2010 10:47 AM | No Comments An economic impact study commissioned the by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce projects the cost of closing Chicago-area navigational locks to shipping could be as much as $4.7 billion over the next 20 years, an estimate far exceeding the one produced by two business consultants hired by Michigan's attorney general in February.

The study, led by DePaul University economist Joseph Schwieterman, anticipates an economic loss to the Chicago region of about $531 million annually over the first seven years and a long-term net loss of about $4.7 billion over 20 years.
 "It is the chamber's hope that this study will bring some well-reasoned perspective to a debate that has been fueled by rhetoric from the state of Michigan," Jim Farrell, executive director of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce's Infrastructure Council, said in a statement released Wednesday.

"The Schwieterman study shows, through well-reasoned economics, that closing these locks will have a devastating effect on our local economy, resulting in the loss of potentially hundreds of area jobs and hurting a range of industries and services."

The study commissioned by Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox and led by a Wayne State business professor estimated an annual loss of only about $70 million a year to the Chicago region and downplayed concerns about the long-term impact to boating and shipping. A 15-year analysis of barge and shipping data showed a 50 percent drop in barge and shipping traffic since 1994, a number shipping industry officials disputed.

Cox filed a lawsuit with the U.S. Supreme Court in December to try and force closure of two navigational shipping locks on the Chicago River and Calumet-Sag Channel to stop the advancement of Asian carp into Lake Michigan. The Supreme Court, which has twice rejected Cox's plea for an immediate closure, is expected to consider the legal merits of the lawsuit in conference on April 16.

 --Joel Hood

Court asked to throw out Asian carp request

The three defendants at the center of the Asian carp dispute have asked the Supreme Court to toss out Michigan's request to re-open a near 90-year-old case that could force closure of shipping locks in Chicago-area waterways.

In court records filed late Monday, the U.S. Solicitor General's office (filing on behalf of the Army Corps of Engineers), the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Great Chicago, and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan uniformly argue that the 1922 case Michigan seeks to re-open was solely intended to restrict Illinois' ability to divert water from Lake Michigan after the construction of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.

The Asian carp issue, Madigan says, is about keeping invasive species from moving between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River. And Illinois has taken many steps over the years to limit the lakes' exposure, she said.

"For Illinois' part, the state has used, and continues to use, its limited legal authority over a navigable waterway to stop Asian carp from reaching Lake Michigan," Madigan wrote. "And (until filing this suit) Michigan and other Great Lakes states had consistently applauded Illinois' efforts in this regard ..."

The shipping locks, one at the mouth of the Chicago River and the other in the Calumet-Sag Channel, are closed to restrict the flow of water out of Lake Michigan. But the locks are opened periodically to allow ships and boats to pass through and in some cases to alleviate rising flood water.

Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox sued Illinois, the water district, and the Army Corps in December to force closure of these two shipping locks. Cox, in a suit since joined by six other Great Lakes states, argues that permanently closing the shipping locks is the only way to prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from entering Lake Michigan and possibly destroying the region's estimated $7 billion commercial and recreational fishing industries.

The suit was filed with the Supreme Court because the high court mediates disputes between states. But since the Army Corps has the day-to-day operation of the locks, and the water district opens them during flooding, Madigan and the Solicitor General argue that Supreme Court is not the proper venue for this fight because the state of Illinois does not have the authority to open and close the locks.

The Supreme Court is expected to rule on that matter on April 16, when the justices meet in conference. If they decide not to take up the case, Michigan must decide whether to file a new suit involving the water district and the federal government in federal court.

Cox twice asked the Supreme Court for an injunction that would have immediately closed the locks while a long-term solution on Asian carp removal could be worked out. The court rejected both requests.

-- Joel Hood

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