Bighead Asian Carp Found in Chicago Area Waterway System

Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee.

One Bighead Asian carp has been found in Lake Calumet along the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS) which is about six miles downstream from Lake Michigan. This is the first physical specimen that has been found in the CAWS above the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer's Electric Barrier System. The Great Lakes commercial and sport fishing industries are valued at over $7 billion annually, and Asian carp pose a threat to those businesses because they can grow bigger than 50 pounds, sometimes much bigger, and they can consume 20% of their weight in plankton per day.