GRAFTON, Ill. (AP) – A development group is set to detail its plans for an Asian carp-processing plant near the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers in the southwestern Illinois city of Grafton.

Representatives of American Heartland Fish Products are scheduled to join Grafton’s mayor, state lawmakers and other officials Thursday in spelling out plans for the site that’ll be in a business park the city is developing.

Developers believe the plant could help control the populations of silver carp and bighead carp. Those are species from Asia that increasingly have crowded out more popular fish in the Mississippi and Illinois rivers.

The plan in 700-resident Grafton is to harvest carp that can be processed for export to Asian countries or be turned into fish meal or fish oil.

© Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.