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Asian Carp Conspiracy?

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Aug 5, 2010 6:20PM

2010_06_24_carp.jpg
Photo via Illinois Department of Natural Resources
The Asian Carp Saga took something of a strange turn recently. With reports of the fish's potential spread into Lake Michigan causing alarm, a group of scientists from Southern Illinois University Carbondale is now suggesting that an asian carp found past a barrier designed to stop the fish might have been planted there. The fish was the first carp caught past the barrier. While the specialists say that it's still "plausible" that the fish came from the Illinois River, testing suggests it came from the Mississippi River basin. Illinois Department of Natural Resources Assistant Director John Rogner said via a press release, "While this report does not have all the answers, it does suggest to us that the fish caught in Lake Calumet last month may have been put there by humans, perhaps as a ritual cultural release or through a bait bucket transfer." And so the mystery continues.