Asian carp aren't just Lake Michigan's problem anymore. The invasive fish have been found spawning in central Indiana, in the Wabash River, near Lake Erie. 

Just a week ago, one of the swimming monsters was caught in Lake Calumet, just six miles from Lake Michigan, and beyond an electric barrier designed to keep the fish out of the Great Lakes. It's like Asian carp are on a summer concert tour. Will the T-shirt say "More Cities Coming Soon" or "Canceled?" It may be up to a new federal czar. Or this may be a study in the inability of large, federal agencies to respond to crisis. 

Lake Michigan, Lake Erie. That leaves a few doors the fish has yet to knock on (Hello Huron, Ontario and Superior). Scientists say the Asian carp threatens a $7 billion Great Lakes commercial and sport fishery, but the fish have been taking advantage of disagreements and inaction --- like a refusal to temporarily close Chicago-area shipping locks that could provide passage to Lake Michigan. Will this Indiana find be a turning point, where other states jump on board (besides Michigan) and call for an end the 2010 Tour? 

The Indiana carp were found downstream of a floodplain that separates the Wabash from the Maumee River and Lake Erie, west of Fort Wayne, Indiana. Which means a flood could send the fish into the Maumee River, which flows into Lake Erie. Remember, a flood is how the Asian carp got to Illinois waters in the first place.

The spawning carp have spawned calls for advanced measures. U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow, D-Michigan, and Richard Durbin, D-Illinois, and U.S. Rep. Dave Camp, R-Michigan, introduced a bill this week that would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete a study within 18 months on the feasibility of permanently severing the Mississippi River and Great Lakes basins.

The Obama administration, which has refused to close those Illinois locks, also is being encouraged by Durbin and others to appoint a federal czar to oversee Asian carp response efforts. That could work, or at least create a fall guy (or girl) if the carp is beyond control. Eighteen months is a long time.

Are we fighting a fight that can't be won? A wall could be built around the Great Lakes today, but it would take just one person, or one bird, to move an Asian carp from a river into the vast Great Lakes. 

Henry Henderson, Midwest director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says we shouldn't be so fatalistic. It's not Game Over yet. 

"There is still time to right the ship," Henderson says. "Under the leadership of Durbin and Stabenow, the bill being advanced by Great Lakes legislators in DC is a good start. But we need to address the calls for capitulation and carp control that will surely follow the disappointing news on the Wabash --- they have the potential to slow solutions even as the carp continue their advance."

Read more of OnEarth's Asian carp coverage.  

-- Image Credit: Mike Licht