04-26-2008, 02:18 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Ratshucks! Just when I was getting my hopes up that we had an outlet for some of our Utah Lake carp, the plan got derailed. Our "Carp for Al Queda" program has been put on hold. Here is the article.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
Utah Lake Lowly carp at center of scam probe
Feds say export scheme for Eastern Europe has cost investors $2 million
[url "mailto:fahys@sltrib.com?subject=Salt Lake Tribune: Lowly carp at center of scam probe"]By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune[/url]
Article Last Updated: 04/26/2008 12:58:16 AM MDT
Click photo to enlarge
[url "http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=9062732&siteId=297&startImage=1"]![[Image: 20080426__ut_carp~1_Viewer.jpg]](http://extras.mnginteractive.com/live/media/site297/2008/0426/20080426__ut_carp~1_Viewer.jpg)
[/url]
The carp, considered a pest in Utah Lake, was the object of an alleged... (Tribune file photo )
It looked like a Minnesota man had a lofty solution to Utah Lake's carp problem: Harvest the fish, which are destroying the lake's ecology, and send them to carp-loving people in Iraq, Bosnia and the Baltics for food.
But now Michael Anthony Powell's proposal has run into trouble with the law and public opinion.
Powell and his various enterprises - including Utah Lake International Fisheries, which identifies him as marketing and humanitarian projects director - are under federal investigation for an alleged carp scam that cost more than 40 investors over $2 million.
In Utah, the Great Salt Lakekeeper, an environmental organization, decried the proposal as "pure evil and completely irresponsible" because Utah Lake carp, contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), are the subject of a state consumption warning.
"If Utah Lake carp are unsafe for Utahns to eat, why would anyone in their right mind think they'd be fit for consumption by unsuspecting people at open-air markets in foreign countries?" said Jeff Salt, the group's director.
Reed Harris said the only thing that's certain about the Utah Lake carp at this point is that the 7 million fish are devastating the lake with their feeding habits, their high fertility and their waste. Eight state and federal agencies - known as the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program that Harris oversees - want to slash the carp population to help restore the endangered June sucker fish, he said.
"If we just leave them in the lake," he said of the carp, "we will never solve the [June sucker] problem."
Harris told The Salt Lake Tribune in January he was contacted by Mike Powell, of MN Direct Trade. Powell offered to remove 5 million to 10 million fish a year and send them to people in Bosnia, the Baltic and Iraq, where carp fetches $4 a pound.
On Friday, Harris emphasized that there are no contracts with Powell. Proposals for cutting carp numbers will be solicited beginning next week. The hope is that about 5 million pounds of fish can be harvested from the lake each year over the next six years.
Whether the winning bidder sells the fish as food for people, food for mink, for fertilizer or some other purpose hasn't been determined yet, he said.
The Utah Lake cleanup documents were among those listed in the search warrant requested earlier this month in documents filed with the federal court in Minneapolis by Rachel S. Williams, an investigator for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Among the computers, files and papers sought through the warrant served on Powell's Lino Lakes, Minn., home was a book, DVD and newsletter in the living room china cabinet, "June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program."
An advisory discourages adults from eating more than four ounces of the fish a month. Children and pregnant women are advised to abstain.
PCBs are known to cause cancer and numerous other health problems.
Harris said that the carp might still be marketed as food for people. Utah's consumption warnings are based on safety limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines are not as stringent.
The Utah Lake carp have PCB levels "well below the FDA standard, so they can be legally marketed," he said.
fahys@sltrib.com
[signature]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
Utah Lake Lowly carp at center of scam probe
Feds say export scheme for Eastern Europe has cost investors $2 million
[url "mailto:fahys@sltrib.com?subject=Salt Lake Tribune: Lowly carp at center of scam probe"]By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune[/url]
Article Last Updated: 04/26/2008 12:58:16 AM MDT
Click photo to enlarge
[url "http://www.sltrib.com/portlet/article/html/render_gallery.jsp?articleId=9062732&siteId=297&startImage=1"]
[/url] The carp, considered a pest in Utah Lake, was the object of an alleged... (Tribune file photo )
It looked like a Minnesota man had a lofty solution to Utah Lake's carp problem: Harvest the fish, which are destroying the lake's ecology, and send them to carp-loving people in Iraq, Bosnia and the Baltics for food.
But now Michael Anthony Powell's proposal has run into trouble with the law and public opinion.
Powell and his various enterprises - including Utah Lake International Fisheries, which identifies him as marketing and humanitarian projects director - are under federal investigation for an alleged carp scam that cost more than 40 investors over $2 million.
In Utah, the Great Salt Lakekeeper, an environmental organization, decried the proposal as "pure evil and completely irresponsible" because Utah Lake carp, contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB's), are the subject of a state consumption warning.
"If Utah Lake carp are unsafe for Utahns to eat, why would anyone in their right mind think they'd be fit for consumption by unsuspecting people at open-air markets in foreign countries?" said Jeff Salt, the group's director.
Reed Harris said the only thing that's certain about the Utah Lake carp at this point is that the 7 million fish are devastating the lake with their feeding habits, their high fertility and their waste. Eight state and federal agencies - known as the June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program that Harris oversees - want to slash the carp population to help restore the endangered June sucker fish, he said.
"If we just leave them in the lake," he said of the carp, "we will never solve the [June sucker] problem."
Harris told The Salt Lake Tribune in January he was contacted by Mike Powell, of MN Direct Trade. Powell offered to remove 5 million to 10 million fish a year and send them to people in Bosnia, the Baltic and Iraq, where carp fetches $4 a pound.
On Friday, Harris emphasized that there are no contracts with Powell. Proposals for cutting carp numbers will be solicited beginning next week. The hope is that about 5 million pounds of fish can be harvested from the lake each year over the next six years.
Whether the winning bidder sells the fish as food for people, food for mink, for fertilizer or some other purpose hasn't been determined yet, he said.
The Utah Lake cleanup documents were among those listed in the search warrant requested earlier this month in documents filed with the federal court in Minneapolis by Rachel S. Williams, an investigator for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Among the computers, files and papers sought through the warrant served on Powell's Lino Lakes, Minn., home was a book, DVD and newsletter in the living room china cabinet, "June Sucker Recovery Implementation Program."
An advisory discourages adults from eating more than four ounces of the fish a month. Children and pregnant women are advised to abstain.
PCBs are known to cause cancer and numerous other health problems.
Harris said that the carp might still be marketed as food for people. Utah's consumption warnings are based on safety limits established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Meanwhile, U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines are not as stringent.
The Utah Lake carp have PCB levels "well below the FDA standard, so they can be legally marketed," he said.
fahys@sltrib.com
[signature]