Environmentalist Dave Dempsey explains how human action (and inaction) made the iconic lakes the way they are today.
It was December 1989. Something was clogging the Lake Erie drinking water intake of the city of Monroe, interrupting the flow to city residents. Two days would pass before Monroe was able to supply all of its citizens with drinking water again. What the heck was going on?, a European mollusk, had found the Great Lakes a welcoming new home.
I became familiar with the war on lamprey as a member of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission , created by the 1955 convention, from 1994 to 2001. At their peak, before the creation of the GLFC, lamprey had killed more than 100 million pounds of Great Lakes fish each year. The commission was charged with controlling the lamprey.
Given the wake-up call of the lamprey invasion, and the consequences of approximately 180 non-native species introductions since European settlement of the Great Lakes watershed by the 1950s, it would have made sense for governmental and scientific Great Lakes experts to be alert to the potential for harm from future non-native migrants. But they either wouldn’t or couldn’t marshal the will to demand preventive action.
The onslaught of zebra and quagga mussels was only the newest chapter in the saga of human-introduced, non-native aquatic species in the Great Lakes. Non-natives had reached the Great Lakes system in all manner of ways. In addition to hitchhiking in ballast water, they had made it to the lakes in bait, illegal transport, dumping of waste fish, inadvertent transport by recreational boats, swimming up the system through canals—and sometimes through intentional acts.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock open up about ‘scary s–t,’ ‘ugly’ Will SmithThe comedy icons have managed to turn their on-stage attacks into literal “punch”-lines.
Read more »
Dave Chappelle: Will Smith 'did an impression of a perfect man for 30 years'On stage in Liverpool on Thursday night, Dave Chappelle delivered a stinging assessment of the Oscars slap heard 'round the world.
Read more »
Dave Grohl Shares Tearful Tribute to Taylor Hawkins During Foo Fighters SetThe tears were flowing at the TaylorHawkinsTribute concert. Dozens of the biggest music stars gathered to honor the Foo Fighters drummer, who died at age 50 in March.
Read more »
Chris Rock on Will Smith During U.K. Show: 'Hit Me Over Bulls**t Joke'Chris Rock appears to have directly addressed the joke that resulted in Will Smith slapping him at the 94th Annual Academy Awards.
Read more »
Sue Mayo sending senior pets smiling into the Sunset! 'It's All Good!' with Dave AllgoodThe latest installment from Dave Allgood features a heartwarming story about aging pets.
Read more »
Watch Them Crooked Vultures Reunite at Taylor Hawkins Tribute ConcertThem Crooked Vultures — the supergroup of Dave Grohl, Josh Homme and Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones — reunited onstage for the first time in over 12 years during the Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert
Read more »