Something has been swimming in Tennessee's rivers, invading through the water and competing for the same food as native fish species. Now, projects are being funded to stop their spread push the threat out of the state.
Lawmakers said that the Water Resources Development Act of 2020 was passed, which includes $25 million for projects meant to manage and prevent the spread of Asian Carp in Tennessee.
Senator Ken Yager said that the money could fund as many as five barriers to stop the species from swimming further into Tennessee. The barriers use combinations of sound, light, bubbles and other technologies to prevent them from getting through.
Four species of Asian Carp have spread through many Tennessee rivers and in the Cumberland river basins. The fish were imported into the U.S. around 1970 and were unintentionally introduced into the waters in the late 1980s, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
