PEORIA — The Trump administration has delayed indefinitely the release of a plan to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes after private industry groups expressed their concern that the planning process disregarded the needs of commercial waterway users.

Efforts to stop the northward advancement of the Asian carp breeding population have been concentrated at Brandon Road Lock and Dam near Joliet, a location at which the Army Corps of Engineers has been researching solutions to carp issue since 2015. The Corps was expected to release a draft of the study results in the near future, but the report's release has been deferred, according to an Associated Press report, pending "further coordination" with government and industry groups.

"Nobody wants the fish to spread," said Benjamin Brockschmidt, executive director of the Illinois Chamber of Commerce.

"Invasive species are bad for business, but if you're going to spend all this money, and spend all this time and effort, there are things that you can and should do ahead of time to understand it."

Some of the businesses that move billions of dollars in products through the Illinois River and employ millions of people — including about 65,000 jobs in Peoria County — feel their concerns about potential changes to waterway infrastructure haven't been taken into account, Brockschmidt said.

While the Corps has been studying Brandon Road solutions, about $35 million in federal funding was flowing from the Environmental Protection Agency to the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to the Illinois Department of Natural Resources and other groups to help prevent Asian carp from getting farther north. So far their efforts have been successful in keeping the invasive species out of the Great Lakes, though a Trump proposal to slash funding to the EPA would take GLRI funds from $300 million to just $10 million.

"I think it's safe to say under the Trump administration there is no such thing as a sacred cow, or a sacred fish in this instance," Brockschmidt said.

Industry groups are concerned that without ongoing population control, whatever strategy is implemented at Brandon Road won't be an effective means on keeping carp at bay, and would increase waterway congestion and delays.

"If the focus is on the structural alternatives and no one is putting focus on the immediate, day-to-day control of this population ... it can come off as an attack on their livelihoods," Brockschmidt said. "There are environmental groups that would say the inverse of what I just said. I think the truth is in the middle. Everyone agrees that we have to do something. There are a lot of questions out there and not a lot of answers."

Private industry isn't advocating that Asian carp be allowed to run rampant through North American waterways. Rather, industry wants a solution that can be be multi-functional. Brockschmidt said he hopes renewed discussions will produce a solution that addresses concerns of industries that rely on the Great Lakes or Illinois River and environmental groups before the report is released.

"It has not been an easy process, and it sure as hell is not going to be an easy process going forward," Brockschmidt said.

Laura Nightengale is the Journal Star's health and lifestyle reporter. She can be reached at 686-3181 or lnightengale@pjstar.com. Follow her on Twitter @lauranight.