Dept of Fish & Game asks for boaters help in controlling invasive mussels

From The Log, which bills itself as SoCal’s #1 Boating and Fishing Newspaper:

First discovered in 1989 in the Great Lakes region of the U.S., the tiny quagga mussel (genus Dreissena and related to the commonly known zebra mussel) native to the Ukraine is highly invasive and can filter a liter or more of water every day, taking in algae and other edible particulates then spewing out water clear enough for a swimming pool. It is presumed the mussels found their way into the United States in the ballast water of ships.

Although the ability to purify water may sound good, it is anything but. The very particulates the mussels consume feed an array of aquatic invertebrates, tiny spineless animals that in turn feed fish. Due to their rapid growth into large populations, quaggas can disrupt food webs and entire ecosystems. These mussels easily attach themselves to submerged surfaces such as piers, pilings, water intakes and fish screens.

The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) reported the discovery of quagga mussels in Lake Mead and Lake Havasu in January. In an effort to educate the public and slow the movement of this invasive species by unwitting recreational boaters, continuously operated check stations were put into action. DFG wardens and staff from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) now check all vehicles towing a watercraft at the Yermo check station, on Highway 15 east of Barstow in San Bernardino County; at Highway 40 in Needles; and at Vidal Junction, west of Parker, Arizona.

To read the rest of this story from The Log, as well as find out what you can specifically do to help combat the spread of these invasive species, click here.

Comments

Admin

• Log in

Credits

Powered by Vertigo & WordPress
WordPress Themes by Brian Gardner