The Associated Press reports the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal filed by Minnesota and other Great Lakes states. The states asked the court to order the closure of shipping locks in the Chicago area to prevent the invasive Asian carp from spreading farther north.

The Obama administration's point man in the fight against invasive Asian carp says his agency is focused on protecting the Great Lakes. But he doubts the plan Sen. Amy Klobuchar is pushing is a viable way to keep the fish out of the upper Mississippi River.

Last month Congress made changes to shorten the timeframe for developing a federal plan to prevent the invasive fish from spreading to the Great Lakes. But Minnesota and four other states that are suing the federal government over the issue say they won't withdraw the lawsuit.

A biologist from the United States Geological Survey says the Mississippi and Illinois rivers have more Asian carp than anywhere else on the planet -- including more than China, where the species came from.

A risk analysis by U.S. and Canadian researchers finds the food supply and breeding areas in the Great Lakes would allow Asian carp to spread rapidly. The report says just ten breeding females and a few males would be enough of a foothold for the invasive fish to populate all five of the Great Lakes.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says it will come up with a short list of options for blocking the spread of the invasive fish by the end of next year. The Corps had earlier said the process would take until 2015. Asian carp have already invaded the Mississippi River watershed. Officials hope to keep them from migrating into the Great Lakes.

A privately funded group continues work on a fast-track plan to stop invasive Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes. The group hopes to release its plan in January. The Detroit Free Press reports one of the options includes a series of barriers in the Illinois River to stop the destructive species from traveling from the Mississippi River through Chicago to Lake Michigan. Minnesota is part of a suit to force federal officials to speed up the effort to halt the fish before they spread further.