Army Corps activates barrier to stop Asian carp

[April 08, 2011]  TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) -- The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has fired up a new electric barrier designed to prevent Asian carp and other fish from migrating between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River watersheds.

The $19 million barrier is on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, part of a waterway network linking the two drainage basins.

It emits 15 electric pulses per second to repel fish and shock those that venture too close.

The device is one of three in the canal about 25 miles south of Lake Michigan. They're meant to keep huge, voracious Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes and starving out native fish.

With the new barrier activated, the Army Corps says one of the others will be taken down for maintenance within the next two months.

[Associated Press; By JOHN FLESHER]

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.