<P> The Stop Asian Carp Act of 2011 was introduced to require the Secretary of the Army to study the feasibility of the hydrological separation, such as electric barriers, of the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basins . The act provided 30 days for the Secretary of the Army to begin a study on the best means of implementing a hydrological separation of the Great Lakes to prevent the introduction of Asian carp . The study requirements included researching techniques that prevented the spread of carp from flooding, wastewater and storm water infrastructure, waterway safety operations, and barge and recreational traffic . </P> <P> In 2012, the U.S. Senate and House introduced new bills aimed at combating the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes by expediting some items of the Stop Asian Carp Act of 2011 . The legislation provides direction to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to complete their study within 18 months on how to separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi watersheds . The USGS collaborated with the University of Minnesota to prepare an extensive report on the use of environmental deoxyribonucleic acid (e DNA) to detect a species in a waterway . This report was put together after extensive field research resulting from positive findings of the eDNA of Asian carp in Minnesota waterways in 2011 . Rivers being researched are the Mississippi and St. Croix Rivers . However, new research was unable to redetect the presence of Asian carp, although several have been caught in Minnesota over the past two years . Possibilities of why Asian carp were not detected include a change in the method of sampling or a disappearance of the carp from Minnesota waterways . </P> <P> The Upper Mississippi CARP Act was presented to Congress as recently as 2013 . Presented by Congressmen Ellison of Minnesota, the Upper Mississippi CARP Act would empower the Secretary of the Army to enact strategies previously determined to prevent further spread of Asian carp and begin eliminating the species . Included in this legislation is the requirement for the Army Corp of Engineers to shut down the Upper St. Anthony Falls lock if Asian carp are detected in the portion of the Mississippi River near the Twin Cities . U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar (DFL) told the Pierce County Herald, "Asian carp not only pose a serious threat to Minnesota's environment, and they also threaten the recreation and fishing industries that play a key role in the state's economy . We must do everything we can to stop the further spread of this invasive species into our lakes and rivers, and this legislation will help the state take action to protect Minnesota's waterways". </P> <P> In May 2013, a test for silver carp eDNA in the waters of Sturgeon Bay in Lake Michigan near Green Bay, Wisconsin was positive . The carp are active in May . The result was published in October and scientists will retest in May, 2014 . </P>

Where did the asian carp originally come from