This is Mr Yang second violation. He was fined for the same infraction in 2006. Apparently Mr. Yang is owner of a fish import company. The live carp would have been sent to fish markets in Toronto. A growing Chinese population in Canada's first city has led to a demand for the prohibited fish.
March 5 Detroit Free Press,
"Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources Officer Bill Ingham said officials believe Yang obtained the fish in the South, where they are legally raised and sold, and then drove them through Michigan into Ontario, where possession of live Asian carp is prohibited.
Scientists fear Asian carp might spread rapidly into the Great Lakes, crowding out other species. So far no known breeding population has been established in the Great Lakes."
This story makes one question the carp battle currently taking place. Right now Asian Carp are supposedly being kept out of the Great Lakes System by a series of electrical barriers. The Army Corp of Engineers operates and maintains the barriers. The Carp are currently at the Great Lakes' door step. They came up through the Mississippi River and are now in the shipping canals that artificially connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi basin.
As it stands, the situation is kind of like a bad professional wrestling match. For most Michiganians it plays out like this: the heel (bad guys for wrestling unaware) are the evil business leaders and their partner the political machine from Chicago. They claim that shutting down the artificial canals would cost them jobs and money in a bad economy. They want to sick the Carp on the Great Lakes, like Jake the Snake sicked his boa constrictor after beating an opponent.
In the other corner, are the good guys. Folks like Rep. Camp and Senator Stabenow teaming up with Great Lakes Tourism and fishing Industries. They say the Asian Carp would cost them jobs and money in a bad economy. Plus, they can use environmental protection as the high ground.
And, like any semi-decent pro-wrestling match there needs to be an incompetent, easily fooled referee: the Army Corp of Engineers. The same referee which makes the ultimate decision of winners and losers.
This Battle Royale du Carp will play out over the next few years. There are many variables. But even if a decision or compromise is finally reached, it may not matter. We live in a society of supply and demand. And if there is demand for Asian Carp anywhere in the Great Lakes Basin, you can count on another Mr. Yang bringing in another illegal shipment of Asian Carp. The future Mr. Yang will probably also be a businessman. And he has a family to feed.
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