Representatives of six states joined almost every member of Congress from Michigan in calling for the Trump administration to issue a delayed plan for stopping Asian bighead and silver carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

Twenty-six representatives signed a March 3 letter asking for Donald Trump's "personal assistance" in directing the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to release its tentative plan for stopping Asian carp at the Brandon Road Lock & Dam, a long-awaited document that was expected out last month in draft form, but was held back by White House order on Feb. 27, the day before release.

The White House told the Detroit News it wants to "examine the issue."

The delay came on the heels of Feb. 23 letter signed by 16 Republican members of Congress, mostly from Illinois and Indiana, urging the White House delay the plan until a new secretary of the Army Civil Works office is confirmed.

The plan was criticized as an "unnecessary experiment" by Illinois Lt. Gov. Evelyn Sanguinetti in an Feb. 24 op-ed that argued existing measures are enough.

Not so, say Republican and Democrat delegates from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Illinois, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"There is consensus that the threat is real, and unfortunately, efforts to solve the problem are mired in bureaucratic inaction," the letter read. "Further delay only increases the likelihood that this threat becomes a full scale, irreversible inundation of this highly destructive invasive species."

Great Lakes Task Force co-chair Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland, said the administration was "slow walking" important information that Great Lakes states are eager to review. There is widespread concern around the region that the plankton-gobbling carp could outcompete existing fish in the Great Lakes and decimate a $7 billion sport fishing industry.

Also cited in the letter were a threat to the "$16 billion boating industry, and $18 billion hunting and wildlife observation market."

"In order to protect both the ecosystem and the economy of the Great Lakes, we must have complete, accurate, and reliable information from the Army Corps of Engineers," said Huizenga.

"Delaying the release of the Brandon Road Lock and Dam evaluation does nothing to stop the threat Asian Carp and other invasive species pose to the largest freshwater ecosystem on the planet. By slow walking this important information, the federal government is jeopardizing the livelihood of hardworking families in Michigan and across the Great Lakes Basin. Time is of the essence."

The letter was signed by every member of Congress from Michigan except John Conyers, Jr., D-Detroit.

Huizenga's statement was distributed alongside similar comments from Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, and Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio.

The Brandon Road lock on the Des Plaines River in Joliet, Ill., is being considered for a redesign as a stop-gap measure to prevent the spread of Asian carp into the Great Lakes.

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette have both expressed support for strengthening the Brandon Road lock on the Des Plaines River in Joliet, Ill.

Snyder recently included the project in a list of infrastructure priorities submitted to the White House.

The Army Corps considers the lock to be a single point of control for all five of the potential pathways carp could use to move from the Mississippi River Basin into the Great Lakes.

The corps has been studying a redesign of the lock for several years.

Opponents to the redesign worry it could harm commercial traffic flowing between the Mississippi River and the Chicago waterway system.

Others say the existing electric barriers are not foolproof and that barge traffic has been shown to drag or push fish through.

The Army Corps says the plan release is on indefinite delay.

The list of Congress members advocating the plan delay:

Todd Rokita, R-Indiana

Rodney Davis, R- Illinois,

Mike Bost, R-Illinois,

Randy Hultgren, R-Illinois

Darin LaHood, R-Illinois

Peter Roskam, R-Illinois

John Shimkus, R-Illinois

Sam Graves, R-Missouri

Adam Kinzinger, R-Illinois

Ralph Abraham, R-Louisiana

Bob Gibbs, R-Ohio

Jackie Walorski, R-Indiana

Larry Bucshon, R-Indiana

Jim Banks, R-Indiana

Luke Messer, R-Indiana

Trey Hollingsworth, R-Indiana

The list of Congress members advocating for the plan release:

Bill Huizenga, R-Michigan

Mike Bishop, R-Michigan

Fred Upton, R-Michigan

Justin Amash, R-Michigan

Debbie Dingell, D-Michigan

Dave Trott, R-Michigan

Paul Mitchell, R-Michigan

Jack Bergman, R-Michigan

Dan Kildee, D-Michigan

Sander Levin, D-Michigan

Brenda Lawrence, D-Michigan

Tim Walberg, R-Michigan

John Moolenaar, R-Michigan

Sean Duffy, R-Wisconsin

Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio

Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio

David Joyce, R-Ohio

Jan Schakowsky, D-Illinois

Mike Kelly, R-Pennsylvania

Betty McCollum, DFL-Minnesota

Richard Nolan, DFL-Minnesota

Elise Stefanik, R-New York

Brian Higgins, D-New York

Louise Slaughter, D-New York

Tim Ryan, D-Ohio

Mike Quigley, D-Illinois