Wildlife officials search for carp in Chicago area

Wildlife officials have begun their hunt for the Asian carp in Chicago-area waterways.

Officials already have DNA evidence that suggests the destructive fish has made it past the area's electric fish barriers. Now, they're looking for actual fish.

Crews are focusing on areas where warm water from industrial operations enters the waterways. That's because fish tend to congregate near the warmer water in the winter.

Steam was rising from the water as the crews put nets up Wednesday. They'll be using commercial fishing nets and electrofishing to search over the next two to three weeks.

In December, officials discovered a single carp in a canal leading to Lake Michigan, the nearest the species has been found to the Great Lakes.

Environmentalists fear invasive carp could endanger the lakes' $7 billion-a-year fishing industry.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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