Calif inspecting boats for Quagga mussels - OH OH!

[zuma hans 1]

Imagine these bastards in your bilge tanks!

Excerpted from THE RIVERSIDE PRESS-ENTERPRISE: http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stor ... 74902.html

"California is on high alert to curb the spread of an exotic mussel found in Lake Mead that could invade Southern California lakes, clog a drinking water system for 18 million residents and prompt a billion-dollar removal effort, officials said Tuesday.

The state has launched a rare multiagency effort normally reserved for earthquakes or other natural disasters. Divers will sweep the Colorado River in the coming days to see if quagga mussels have spread south of Lake Mead National Recreation Area in Nevada and toward Southern California's drinking water pipelines, officials said.

Boats coming into California from Lake Mead are being inspected at San Bernardino County checkpoints to make sure mussels aren't hitching a ride to Lake Perris near Moreno Valley or other popular boating spots, said Steve Martarano, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Game...."

[Frank C]

Uh-oh, the Mac 26 is water ballasted ... we'll soon be on a CA regulatory black list!

Seems to me that this problem will be enormous. These critters might even survive in the water passages of motors, inboard or outboard, regardless of water ballast tanks (see highlights below). None of these (inboard, outboard or ballast tank) are easily surveyed. We (Mac owners) might "chlorine flush" the ballast tank upon leaving Lake Mead, if that might kill them? But it seems the motors would remain an issue??

The quagga mussel, native to the Ukraine, and its cousin, the infamous zebra mussel, are known for causing multibillion dollar problems in the Great Lakes since the late 1980s. Scientists believe they got to the Great Lakes when ships arriving from Europe discharged their ballast water ...

Although the size of an adult thumbnail, the fresh-water mollusks reproduce and colonize rapidly, cling to water intake valves, and drastically alter aquatic ecosystems by consuming food for native fish. And they are nearly impossible to get rid of ...

"There's no way to see them all, there's no way to get them all," said Susan Ellis, the state's fish and game invasive species coordinator. Any chemical treatment, she said, would kill other species living in the rivers or lakes.

Ellis said "there's a real chance" that the mussels could end up in California. They were first discovered in Lake Mead on Jan. 6 and have been found in a couple marinas at the lake since then, she said.

Mussels clinging on boats can stay alive for several days. With that in mind, the state has stepped up inspections of boats to make sure vessels are clear of any mussels or any standing water that could harbor hard-to-see juveniles, Martarano said.

[eric3a]

..

[zuma hans 1]

OK, what would the wildlife biologists suggest I do after I pull my Mac up the dock at Lake Mead? I mean, other than parking on an incline and draining the ballast totally?

I plan to call Sacto and ask.

[Carl Noble]

I don't know what the min size of the critters are but wonder if a filter at the ballast gate couldn't help?
Eric

A filter would do no good. The larvae are microscopic. Just put chorine in the balast if you are going to keep it in there for more than a few days to kill the buggers. The larvae WILL attach themselves to anything hard and grow into a mussel. I see them attached to small twigs that I snag while fishing.
At the end of the season I always find some attached to the outside of my gate. I'm in the water for 6 months.
I also always tilt my motor up at the dock, if I didn't they would start to grow inside the motor shaft that is submursed.

[eric3a]

..

[zuma hans 1]

So how do you keep them out of the ballast tank? That thing, when in the water, always has a little water in the bottom.

[zuma hans 1]

L A Times 1/22:
A destructive mussel found earlier this month in Lake Mead now has been discovered at intakes for the aqueduct system that carries water from the Colorado River to Southern California, raising fears that the invasive species could inflict costly damage to pipelines, aquatic life and waterways in California.
...
The infestation discovered Jan. 6 in Lake Mead near Las Vegas was the first in the West. The mussels found last week at an MWD plant at Lake Havasu and a pumping station two miles to the west were the first confirmed in California. A single quagga mussel was found Friday by California Department of Fish and Game divers about 14 miles away on the Colorado River.
...
Ric De Leon, MWD's microbiology manager, said that chlorination can kill the larvae and that copper sulfate can be applied to adults. But he said that the mussels also can be killed by drying them out — and that a three-week scheduled maintenance shutdown in March will provide that opportunity.
...
MWD spokesman Bob Muir said the agency plans to increase boat inspections at its recreational reservoirs, including Diamond Valley Lake in Riverside County.

More at: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me ... 4995.story


Mod's edit: Highlighting ... Thanks zuma! -fc

[zuma hans 1]

Lake Pleasant on lookout for mussel
With 1 spotted, marina to be extra cautious
Cecilia Chan
The Arizona Republic
Mar. 5, 2007 12:00 AM

Although the size of a thumbnail, an invasive mollusk found attached to a boat earlier this year at Lake Pleasant has the power to disrupt an entire aquatic lifecycle.

Pleasant Harbor Marina employees have been inspecting boats before they go into the water since an alert went out that the quagga mussel, closely related to and commonly referred to as a zebra mussel, was discovered in January at Lake Mead.

The destructive mollusk, from Eastern Europe, already has caused havoc in the Great Lakes.


"It filters the water and takes all the nutrients out of the water," said Steve Bodas, marina manager. "It makes the lake really clean but it basically kills the circle of life. It interrupts it so no algae grows and fish start dying out because the nutrients are all gone. It's very bad."

Bodas said the boat with the aquatic hitchhikers was from Lake Mead.

"This is the first boat we saw with the mussel on it," he said. "We have been prechecking boats and if I know it's coming from out of state, my staff would physically inspect the boat real quick."

Quagga mussels also have been discovered at several locations at Lake Mohave and Havasu, said Roger Sorensen, hatchery program manager with Arizona Game and Fish.

"This is going to change the way people do business," Sorensen said. "Look at the economic impact of what the animal has done to back East with the water-delivery systems."

The mussel clusters clog water intakes and pipes, costing millions of dollars annually to treat.

Sorensen said in ecosystems where the mussels dominate, up to 70,000 could be found per square meter.

"Each animal filters one liter of water a day," he said. "They are pulling basically the building blocks from the web of life."

Sorensen said like the flu, the proliferation of the mussel - the female can produce more than 1 million eggs in a breeding season - starts off slow and spreads rapidly.

So far, Lake Pleasant is free of the pesky invaders.

Bodas said the lake is entering into the power-boating season, and a big fishing tournament is scheduled for this month, where boaters from all over the country are expected.

"The lake gets very busy," Bodas said. "On an average weekend, there are 1,200 to 1,400 entries. And then we have 1,200 boats just in our marina alone between dry storage and wet storage.

"That is why we have been aggressively trying to monitor this."

Sorensen said governmental agencies and stakeholders are formulating a plan to combat the invaders.

For now, the prevention includes inspections, public education and boat decontaminations.

"We need to change the behavior of people right now," Sorensen said. "These things don't get out of the water and walk anywhere."

[jackie m]

I wouldn't be surprised if the mussels were spread via fishing tournaments. Doesn't seem possible to stop the invasion.

This seems like the best hope.....

Zebra/quagga mussels & walley --- from a fisherman's point of view.
http://www.walleyecentral.com/articles/ ... /index.php

This is when everything is ‘right' for these animals to grow, and with no/few natural predators established, or disease such as virus, fungus or bacteria present to keep their numbers in check; and they start massive population growth. This massive population explosion is called ‘exponential growth'. Often, such periods of a relatively ‘unchecked' population explosion in an epizootic such as the zebra/quagga mussel invasion of Lake Erie, lasts for approximately 11 years. During this time, natural predators are establishing themselves, and in the case of the Erie mussels, predators such as waterfowl, fish, zooplankton. As well, viral, bacterial and fungal diseases may also be getting established within the zebra /quagga populations - and hopefully is. If a virus or one of these other diseases successfully takes hold, because of the incredibly high mussel population, can make this mussel population ‘crash' quickly, in a ‘domino effect'. It is hoped by most biologists and officials responsible for Lake Erie's health, that this population ‘crash' is nearing. It has been nearly 11 years since these mussel invaders started manifesting Lake Erie, in their exponential growth cycle.



jackie m