Democrat Brown is introducing the bill with his Republican counterpart from Pennsylvania, Pat Toomey.  It would designate the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as the lead agency in slowing the spread of the invasive carp, and would share information and technology among other federal, state and local agencies – and with Congress.

The voracious Asian carp escaped when fish farms in the south flooded, and have been working their way up the Mississippi River basin toward the Great Lakes. But Brown says the fish are a concern for more than the lakes.

“You think of the problems in the Great Lakes, you think of the incredible biological diversity, the huge number of fish. … You think drinking water, you think all of that. The Ohio River is, if not equally, certainly very important in the state’s commerce and we’re hearing more and more stories as they’re coming up the Mississippi and coming along the Ohio River.” 

Brown acknowledges, though, that any steps that would interfere with commerce on the rivers or the lakes would likely run into opposition.