Michigan AG files suit with U.S. Supreme Court over Asian carp

DETROIT (AP) Michigan is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to order closure of shipping locks near Chicago to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

Attorney General Mike Cox filed a lawsuit Monday with the nation's highest court. It says the ravenous carp would threaten thousands of jobs if they get into the lakes.

Bighead and silver carp from Asia have been migrating northward in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers for decades. They have been detected in canals and rivers south of Chicago that open into Lake Michigan.

Officials poisoned a section of the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal this month to prevent the carp from getting closer to Lake Michigan while an electrical barrier was taken down for maintenance.

___

John Flesher reported from Traverse City.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)