Scientists: Mussels may leave carp nothing to eat

By JOHN FLESHER AP Environmental Writer

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) - If Asian carp manage to invade Lake Michigan, some scientists believe there won't be enough food for them to survive.

The voracious carp feed largely on microscopic plants and animals called plankton. In a new report, scientists say quagga mussels are gobbling up so much plankton that the lake's food web is fraying.

Quagga and zebra mussels arrived in the Great Lakes from Europe in the 1980s in freighter ship ballast tanks.

Federal scientist Gary Fahnenstiel (FAH'-nihn-steel) says the plankton shortage is so severe that if Asian carp evade barriers near Chicago and reach Lake Michigan, they'll either turn back or starve.

Other scientists say the carp are flexible enough to find other food. They say the carp pose a serious threat to the lakes.