Steve Orr

@SOrr1

Speaking in a fire house just up the hill from the Lake Ontario shoreline, U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Louise Slaughter announced Monday they're introducing legislation to fight the sort of invasive species that threaten Ontario and the other Great Lakes.

Their Invasive Fish and Wildlife Prevention Act would give federal authorities the ability to identify potentially harmful non-native species before they arrive in our shores, and to ban the import and spread of those animals and plants.

At present, the federal government can only regulate the import and possession of injurious species after they've become established here, according to a news release from the two lawmakers.

"New invasive species are being discovered in New York's waters all the time. We need to do much more to prevent more invasive species from coming into our waters," said Gillibrand, a Democrat whose from Brunswick, Rensselaer County.

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Slaughter, a Democrat from Fairport, said they would push hard for the bill's adoption next year. "Time is not a luxury we can afford when it comes to invasive species," she said.

While the Great Lakes already have been profoundly impacted by invasive species, especially zebra and quagga mussels, there is on-going worry about new invaders. Slaughter singled out Asian carp, which she called "a very dangerous animal."

Several species of Asian carp escaped from the commercial fish farms where they were introduced decades ago, and have come to dominate some rivers in the Mississippi River basin. Authorities belatedly have begun efforts to keep them traveling through connecting canals and rivers to the Great Lakes, where it is feared they would wreak havoc by out-competing native species.

The two spoke at an early afternoon news conference at the Sea Breeze Volunteer Fire Department on Culver Road in Irondequoit.

SORR@Gannett.com