By AP
TRAVERSE CITY, MI –
The Canadian government is joining the fight to prevent Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes and decimating its fish populations.
Canada's fisheries and oceans ministry Tuesday announced an 18-month research program to assess the dangers that bighead and silver carp pose to the lakes.
The project will involve scientists in the U.S. as well as Canada.
The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission says it's the first binational effort to determine the likelihood that Asian carp will spread across the lakes, and how the ecosystem will be affected if that happens.
Asian carp have migrated northward in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers for decades and are threatening to enter Lake Michigan through Chicago-area waterways.