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Traverse City, Mich. (AP)

Feds oppose closing locks to stop Asian carp

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Bighead carp
In this Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006 file photo, a bighead carp, front, a species of the Asian carp, swims in a new exhibit that highlights plants and animals that eat or compete with Great Lakes native species, at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.
M. Spencer Green/Associated Press

The Obama administration opposes closing shipping locks near Chicago to prevent Asian carp from invading the Great Lakes.

In a memo filed Tuesday, Solicitor General Elena Kagan asked the U.S. Supreme Court to reject a request by Michigan and several other states to order the locks closed. Illinois filed a document supporting the administration's position.

Kagan said closing the locks would endanger public safety and disrupt cargo.

She said federal agencies are working to keep Asian carp out of the lakes.

The voracious fish have been migrating up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers toward the Great Lakes for decades. They have infested waterways near Chicago leading to Lake Michigan.

Scientists say if they reach the lakes, they could disrupt the food chain and endanger the $7 billion fishery.

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

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Bighead carp
In this Thursday, Jan. 5, 2006 file photo, a bighead carp, front, a species of the Asian carp, swims in a new exhibit that highlights plants and animals that eat or compete with Great Lakes native species, at Chicago's Shedd Aquarium.
M. Spencer Green/Associated Press