ILLINOIS—The Great Lakes $7 billion fishing industry may soon get the relief it has been seeking from a potential invasive carp invasion in Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes, with assurances from USA President Donald Trump that the federal government administration will cover its share of the $1.2 billion costs to keep invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes.
Several Canadian and USA news agencies reported that on May 9 the White House issued a memorandum explaining the Trump administration recognizes the threat invasive carp pose to Great Lakes recreation and fishing and that it’s committed to protecting the lakes.
With the news from the Trump administration of funding being provided, the state of Illinois will now resume closing on property that is needed to continue work on a project that will generate vast bubble curtains to deter the carp, stun them with electrical fields and play sound frequencies to disorient them.
For the past five years the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) along with state officials in Michigan and Illinois have planned to install the gauntlet of technologies in the Des Plaines River near Joliet, Illinois, to deter invasive carp from entering Lake Michigan.
A deal was signed in 2024 by USACE and the states to work together on the project using $226 million allocated through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Elements of the Water Resources Development Act adopted last year called for the US federal government to come 90 percent of operating and maintenance costs.
The construction project began this past January, until it was delayed with Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and his administration wanting a guarantee from the Trump government that it would provide its share of the funds for the project.
On May 9, it was reported that President Trump’s memo directs the administration to “expeditiously implement the most effective mechanisms, barriers and other measures to prevent the migration and expansion of invasive carp in the Great Lakes Basin and the surrounding region.”
“My administration is committed to protecting the Great Lakes, the world’s largest surface freshwater system, and a highly valued shipping avenue, resource for fishing and recreation and source of high-quality drinking water, from the economic and ecological threats of invasive carp,” President Trump wrote in the memo to several cabinet secretaries.
“Curbing this threat requires immediate and effective deployment of resources, infrastructure, and expertise. The federal government is prepared to do its part, but the states where preventative measures can be taken must cooperate.”
The memorandum expresses support for a $1.15 billion project at the Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, that would install several methods to serve as a barrier to the carp and is ready to start construction.
Governor Pritzker said the President’s response has provided him enough reassurance to proceed with the project as previously planned before his governor’s administration had put it on hold.
