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DNR experts, fish poison heading to Chicago

By Rick Pluta, Michigan Public Radio Network

UNDATED – Michigan is sending wildlife experts and fish poison to Chicago to help keep the Asian carp from reaching Lake Michigan.

The Department of Natural Resources is sending half a dozen technicians and almost the state's entire supply of the fish-killing poison rotenone to help Illinois officials clear a canal of the Asian carp. An underwater electric fence in the waterway will be shut down this week for maintenance. But there is DNA evidence that Asian carp have already jumped the barrier meant to keep them from reaching the Great Lakes.

The Illinois environmental agency is planning to poison the canal in Chicago that connects the Mississippi River system to Lake Michigan. Asian carp are voracious feeders that upset the ecological systems of the waters they invade by crowding out other species. Environmental experts say if the carp reach Lake Michigan, there is little that can be done to avert a disaster.

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