Asian carp refers to carp originating in Asia. "Asian carp" is the collective name used by Americans for eight species of fish, including herring, grass carp, bighead carp, common carp, and silver carp. The United States imported these fish from China in the 1970s to improve the ecology. However, as their numbers have increased, Asian carp have multiplied into the Great Lakes of the United States, harming the local ecological environment. In order to protect the local ecology, the U.S. government began large-scale hunting of Asian carp at the end of 2009. In January 2014, the Obama administration announced it would spend $18 billion over 25 years to prevent the Great Lakes from being invaded by Asian carp. [1]

Currently, Asian carp account for 90% of the total fish population in some rivers in the United States. At least three species of Asian carp have been found in the waters of the Great Lakes, including two in the waters of the United States and one in the waters of Canada. Although the U.S. government has set up defensive grids in rivers leading to the Great Lakes, it seems to have failed to effectively prevent carp from moving northward. [2]