Obama administration appoints Indiana activist Goss to lead fight against Asian carp invasion

Indiana activist Goss to head anti-carp campaign

An environmental activist and former state official from Indiana has been put in charge of the campaign to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

John Goss, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Indiana affiliate, was named the Obama administration’s Asian carp director Wednesday.

Goss previously headed the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

His appointment to the Asian carp post was announced by Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Goss will lead a team of federal, state and local agencies working to keep bighead and silver carp from gaining a foothold in the lakes, where scientists fear they could starve out prized sport and commercial species.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

CHICAGO (AP) — An Italian biologist says a genetic test for the presence of Asian carp in Chicago-area waterways could give misleading results.

Gentile Ficetola (feh-CHAY’-toh-lah) of the University of Milan testified Wednesday by video in Chicago federal court during a hearing in a five-state lawsuit regarding the invasive species.

Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are seeking the closure of two shipping locks and other measures to prevent the fish from overrunning the Great Lakes and potentially devastating its $7 billion-a-year fishing industry.

Ficetola says the DNA testing could have found remains of dead fish or fish that were transported in barges’ ballast water.

The barge industry and others say closing the locks would be a major blow to their businesses.