Assistant Secretary Strickland Lauds House Passage of the Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act

WASHINGTON -- Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife and Parks Tom Strickland today issued a statement lauding House passage of S. 1421, the Asian Carp Prevention and Control Act, which lists bighead carp as an injurious species under the Lacey Act. S. 1421 passed the Senate by unanimous consent on November 17, 2010 and passed the House by a voice vote.

“Along with other invasive Asian carp species, the bighead carp poses an immediate and significant threat to the nation's freshwater fisheries, especially the Great Lakes,” Strickland said. “While normally we would list an injurious species under administrative rulemaking, the urgency of the situation called for swift action by Congress so that we can prevent this voracious fish from spreading to new areas and overwhelming recreational and commercial fisheries by effectively starving native fish.”

Under the Lacey Act, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to regulate the importation and interstate transport of species determined to be injurious to humans, the interests of agriculture, horticulture or forestry, and the welfare and survival of wildlife resources of the United States. Species listed as injurious may not be imported or transported across state lines by any means without a permit issued by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The penalty for an injurious wildlife Lacey Act violation is up to six months in prison and a $5,000 fine for an individual or a $10,000 fine for an organization.

The Fish and Wildlife Service administratively listed three other Asian carp -- the silver, black and large-scale silver carp -- as injurious species under the Lacey Act in 2007.

Listing bighead carp as an injurious species was called for in the Asian Carp Control Strategy Framework released by the Obama Administration in February of this year. This framework of coordinated short- and long-term actions unifies Federal, state and local agencies, known as the Asian Carp Regional Coordinating Committee (ACRCC), in an unparalleled effort to prevent Asian carp from establishing populations in the Great Lakes. USFWS is a member of the ACRCC. More information on the framework and the ACRCC can be found on the website at www.asiancarp.org.

###