Dear Friends,

I received the following letter through the Prairie Rivers Network.
It is a sign-on letter regarding the use of exotic black carp to
control freshwater snails a subject upon which I have posted
previously.  PEER- Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility-
is circulating a sign on letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
to bar the introduction of the carp.  PEER is getting involved
because my coauthor on the petition to list the black carp as an
injurious species, Jerry Rassmussen, was "reassigned" from his
position as the head of MICRA (Mississippi Interstate Cooperative
Resource Association) by the Director of the US Fish & Wildlife
Service (see the story in the link below).  In addition, the USFWS
has pulled all of its support from this important multi-state
organization of fish & wildlife agencies.  Please read the attached
letter and consider having your club, etc. sign on to this letter on
this important issue related to freshwater mollusks.  (Deadline is
the end of October!)

Thanks,

Kevin

If you would like more information on this issue, please read the following
article:

http://www.stlnet.com/postnet/stories.nsf/ByDocID/20D8069B1B99B7FC86256973003194D1



Director Jamie Rappaport Clark
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Department of the Interior
1849 C Street NW Room 3256
Washington, DC 20240

Dear Director Clark,

As you know, exotic species introductions are one of the most serious
natural resource issues faced in the United States today, costing the U.S.
taxpayers billions of dollars each year. In many cases, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service has wisely led the charge to prevent the damage caused by
non-native species.

Among exotic introductions from the past decade, few have wreaked as much
havoc on native ecosystems as Asian carp species introduced in the
Mississippi River and its tributaries.  In recent years, populations of
bighead, silver and grass carp have exploded, driving out native fish and
shellfish by devastating food supplies.

Today the aquaculture industry is putting pressure on state fisheries
agencies to allow the introduction of yet another exotic carp species, the
black carp, to control snail populations, which can carry parasites that
cause disease among domestic catfish stocks.  The black carp introduction
has already gained the sanction of the States of Mississippi and Arkansas,
and aquaculturists in other states, such as Missouri, either presently
holding black carp in captivity illegally or proposing to use black carp to
control snails in aquaculture facilities.

All other invasive carp species used in aquaculture farms have escaped to
reproduce in wild rivers and streams.  This particular species has done so
in other countries, with devastating ecological consequences.  In Australia
the black carp have been dubbed "river rabbits" because of their rapid rate
of reproduction and voracious appetites.   Their dietary habits are even
more threatening in North America because their primary food source, snails
and mussels, already face significant survival challenges.  Many mollusks in
the Mississippi River are already listed as endangered, threatened or of
special concern, and the escape of the black carp to public waters will have
further adverse impacts on this threatened faunal group.

For these reasons the undersigned organizations urge the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service to immediately list the exotic black carp species as an
injurious species under the Lacey Act, thereby banning their use in
interstate commerce and helping to prevent the devastating consequences seen
in other countries.

Signed,

Heart Lake Conservation Associates, LLC
Prairie Rivers Network
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Western Lakes Wildlife Center
Wildlife Advocacy Project
Wisconsin's Environmental Decade
--
To add your group to the sign on list for this letter please contact:
Amanda Carufel, Communications Director
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility
Phone (202)265-7337, Email [log in to unmask] (Please sign on by the end of
Oct. Thank you.)
--
Kevin S. Cummings
Illinois Natural History Survey
607 E. Peabody Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
[log in to unmask]
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/cbd/collections/mollusk.html