09-14-2010, 12:33 PM
I picked up this story from the Idaho State Journal
I thought that it was an interesting example of what could happen if the boaters are either ignorant or just don't care.
Mussels made way into Bear Lake
Posted: Thursday, September 9, 2010 12:59 pm | Updated: 8:30 am, Fri Sep 10, 2010.
Logan Herald Journal staff
A boat harboring invasive quagga or zebra mussels took to Bear Lake late last month, and while it seems the critters were dead before the vessel launched, the incident raises questions about the state’s ability to keep out the destructive pests.
Idaho Department of Agriculture inspectors stationed in Franklin County near the state border discovered the mussels (the type of which has not been determined) on the boat at a port-of-entry checkpoint Aug. 21, said Larry Dalton, invasive species coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Invasive species officials in Idaho did not immediately respond to interview requests Tuesday. The boat had launched at Bear Lake State Park on Aug. 17 — four days before Idaho’s Department of Agriculture officials discovered the mussels — according to park records.
Once they have a foothold, quagga, which are about as big as dimes , can quickly carpet lake beds, crust over boat motors and clog irrigation canals and intake pipes. The mussels, originally from Eastern Europe, first turned up in the United States in Lake Erie in 1989. They have since spread west, primarily via boat hulls and bilge water, to lakes and reservoirs in Nevada, California, Arizona and Colorado.
In Utah, quagga have been found in Sand Hollow Reservoir (in May), near Hurricane, and in Red Fleet Reservoir (in 2008), near Vernal. So far, Bear Lake has escaped the scourge despite its relative proximity to Lake Mead, where mussels have reproduced prodigiously since being discovered there in 2007.
Since the mussels on the boat that was in Bear Lake were discovered dried out and dead, Dalton said he’s not particularly alarmed about the case leading to an infestation of Bear Lake — at least due to the visible mussels. However, Idaho officials who interviewed the owner, who recently purchased the boat in Minnesota, learned he took the boat for a test drive in the Mississippi River, a contaminated waterway, on July 15. During that spin, the boat could have picked up mussel larvae in the bilge water, said Dalton.
But a boat with mussels easily visible on it being allowed to make it into the water “arouses a high level of concern,” he said.
“We are alarmed the boat was able to launch in Wyoming and Utah.”
The boat owner reportedly told Idaho officials the boat had been in Jackson Lake on Aug. 1. Apparently, inspectors in Wyoming OK’d the boat’s launch without removing the mussels, which may or may not have been dead, and decontaminating the vessel.
What happened on the Utah side Dalton said he’s still trying to determine; however, he cited a lack of manpower as a possible cause — one full-time inspector works at Bear Lake, covering the state park and launch areas around the lake. With one inspector not every boat can be checked, Dalton said. The state relies on boat owners to answer honestly questions about where the boat has been and if it has been decontaminated (sprayed with 140-degree water) since being in infected waters.
“We’re not funded well enough to be at every location,” he said, noting that Utah’s anti-mussel program has emphasized public education over inspection and enforcement.
The state has spent nearly $5 million since 2008 on advertising campaigns to educate boaters about invasive mussels and for decontamination equipment and workers. Recent DWR surveys show 97 percent of Utah boaters are aware of invasive mussels and that 70 percent of them decontaminate their vessels after every outing.
The increased awareness has helped keep mussels at bay, Dalton said, buying time until someone figures out how to safely eradicate the creatures.
“We’re hoping if we can just hold them back, science will give us better tools.”
If quagga were to establish in Bear Lake, they could spread via rivers, creeks and canals all the way to Box Elder County, said Scott Tolentino, a DWR biologist.
Dalton said the inquiry about what happened at Bear Lake is on going.
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I thought that it was an interesting example of what could happen if the boaters are either ignorant or just don't care.
Mussels made way into Bear Lake
Posted: Thursday, September 9, 2010 12:59 pm | Updated: 8:30 am, Fri Sep 10, 2010.
Logan Herald Journal staff
A boat harboring invasive quagga or zebra mussels took to Bear Lake late last month, and while it seems the critters were dead before the vessel launched, the incident raises questions about the state’s ability to keep out the destructive pests.
Idaho Department of Agriculture inspectors stationed in Franklin County near the state border discovered the mussels (the type of which has not been determined) on the boat at a port-of-entry checkpoint Aug. 21, said Larry Dalton, invasive species coordinator for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. Invasive species officials in Idaho did not immediately respond to interview requests Tuesday. The boat had launched at Bear Lake State Park on Aug. 17 — four days before Idaho’s Department of Agriculture officials discovered the mussels — according to park records.
Once they have a foothold, quagga, which are about as big as dimes , can quickly carpet lake beds, crust over boat motors and clog irrigation canals and intake pipes. The mussels, originally from Eastern Europe, first turned up in the United States in Lake Erie in 1989. They have since spread west, primarily via boat hulls and bilge water, to lakes and reservoirs in Nevada, California, Arizona and Colorado.
In Utah, quagga have been found in Sand Hollow Reservoir (in May), near Hurricane, and in Red Fleet Reservoir (in 2008), near Vernal. So far, Bear Lake has escaped the scourge despite its relative proximity to Lake Mead, where mussels have reproduced prodigiously since being discovered there in 2007.
Since the mussels on the boat that was in Bear Lake were discovered dried out and dead, Dalton said he’s not particularly alarmed about the case leading to an infestation of Bear Lake — at least due to the visible mussels. However, Idaho officials who interviewed the owner, who recently purchased the boat in Minnesota, learned he took the boat for a test drive in the Mississippi River, a contaminated waterway, on July 15. During that spin, the boat could have picked up mussel larvae in the bilge water, said Dalton.
But a boat with mussels easily visible on it being allowed to make it into the water “arouses a high level of concern,” he said.
“We are alarmed the boat was able to launch in Wyoming and Utah.”
The boat owner reportedly told Idaho officials the boat had been in Jackson Lake on Aug. 1. Apparently, inspectors in Wyoming OK’d the boat’s launch without removing the mussels, which may or may not have been dead, and decontaminating the vessel.
What happened on the Utah side Dalton said he’s still trying to determine; however, he cited a lack of manpower as a possible cause — one full-time inspector works at Bear Lake, covering the state park and launch areas around the lake. With one inspector not every boat can be checked, Dalton said. The state relies on boat owners to answer honestly questions about where the boat has been and if it has been decontaminated (sprayed with 140-degree water) since being in infected waters.
“We’re not funded well enough to be at every location,” he said, noting that Utah’s anti-mussel program has emphasized public education over inspection and enforcement.
The state has spent nearly $5 million since 2008 on advertising campaigns to educate boaters about invasive mussels and for decontamination equipment and workers. Recent DWR surveys show 97 percent of Utah boaters are aware of invasive mussels and that 70 percent of them decontaminate their vessels after every outing.
The increased awareness has helped keep mussels at bay, Dalton said, buying time until someone figures out how to safely eradicate the creatures.
“We’re hoping if we can just hold them back, science will give us better tools.”
If quagga were to establish in Bear Lake, they could spread via rivers, creeks and canals all the way to Box Elder County, said Scott Tolentino, a DWR biologist.
Dalton said the inquiry about what happened at Bear Lake is on going.
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