A pair of bills to fight Asian carp -- but would they work?

Rep. Keith Ellison and Rep. Betty McCollum have introduced separate bills to fight the spread of Asian carp up the Mississippi River.

"The time to act is now. When I first proposed a solution to invasive carp in Minnesota, they were a future threat. But last month, an invasive carp was caught just below St. Paul," Ellison wrote in an op-ed last month.

Star Tribune outdoors columnist Dennis Anderson wrote this week that Asian carp threaten the very character of the state.

If action isn't taken soon, the state's water-based character will be lost forever, as Asian carp, including the jumping silver carp, take hold in lakes and rivers that historically have helped define who we are as a people.

Then it's bye-bye sport fishing.

Bye-bye also pleasure boating.

And bye-bye the billions of dollars these and related activities contribute to the state's economy.

Paul Labovitz, superintendent of the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area, and Peter Sorensen, scientific director of the University of Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Center, join The Daily Circuit to discuss the latest on the fight against Asian carp.

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