Invasive species?

[knottybuoyz]

No not a horror movie title but it looks like the lowly Zebra Mussel is on the endangered species list. Other eastern european invaders are on the way too!

JS Online: A new invasion: Quagga mussels take over lake

[irwinsailor]

It will not be long before the Asian carp gets into the lakes. What a mess they will bring. I went down the illinios river a couple of years ago and saw fish jumping at our boat, I was another guy in a small boat doing circles catching them in his boat. I just read a story that 96 out of 100 fish caught in the rivers are the carp.

[markpj23]

Who would've thought that clear waters would be a BAD thing???

Time to step up to the plate then - POLLUTE Lake Michigan before it's too late!!

[senormechanico]

The Quagga Mussels look similar to our famous Whidbey Island Penn Cove Mussels. I wonder if they're good to eat? It could be a whole new industry opportunity!

[Lynx]

Start a fad, Eat Quagga Mussels and save Michigan

[shellback]

And to add to the invasive mussels that are dominating the zebra mussels in lake michigan. news reports are now out aboud a deadly fish virus found in some smaller lakes and in a small northwestern area of Lake Winnebago which is also causing problems.
Now they're worried it'll spread to the entire lake, go up the Fox River, empty into the Bay of Green Bay and onwards. Already, DNR and other legislative emergency ordinances were put in place to help protect the unaffected areas until the problem can be contained and dealt with.


Eco system going haywire!

[Alan Wheeler]

We have several invasive species trying to be dealt with here in NZ at the mo. One is a saltwater based plant called "sea squirt". It seems to be none agressive, as in, it stays within close proximity to where it was released. So control is by quaranteeing the area and then they try finding plants and eradicate them. But the one that is out of controll is a fresh water species of algae called "Didemo". It is rampantly spreading across NZ totaly out of control and is so virilant, it almost destroys any water way it enters. NZ simply doesn't get cold enough to control this species as it does in its natural environment.
IMO, I don't think our "border" is being controlled enough anymore. We seem to be playing catchup to a whole lot of criters and plants that are arriving here.
Here in Blenheim, a species of Australain Blackwidow spider was found last week. And an Asian Golden Orb spider was found just a mile away from were I live. We now have a very well established South African White tail spider. The German Wasp and Argintinian Ant are both out of control. Auckland has frequent spraying for the painted apple moth and some other criter I can't remember and the wet lands around Marlborough are yearly sprayed for some invasive grass and the White Nile mosquito. When I was a boy, the only poisonouse creature we had was a little spider that lived in dead logs on the beach called the katipo and even then it wasn't dangerousely poisonouse.
Of course there are too numerouse to mention numbers of other introduced species that were brought here with the first settlers. Oh boy did they stuff up.

[Greg S]

As if the Zebra and Quagga mussels weren't bad enough, it now seems that there is a fish virus of epidemic proportions spreading through the Great Lakes as well. I wonder just how much these fine lakes can take? Fish Virus Reaching Epidemic Proportions

[Alan Wheeler]

If it is a natural to that species and area type virus, then the lakes will do OK. Fish stocks may take a hit and may take some years to come back. But providing the stocks are not hammered while thay are week, they tend to come back to a good healthy level once again and in many cases, even healthier than before they got hit. When nature causes the issues, then nature tends to have a good reason and the result ends up being as good if not better. When it's man that causes the issue, then the result can be catastrophic.

[GordMay]

The Isaac Walton League of America < Izaak Walton League of America >, a US-based conservation organization, has started a quiz-like "Challenge" on its website that will award a US$2,500 prize to one person who gets the correct answers. The "Clean Boat Challenge" is an attempt to combat invasive species or "aquatic hitchhikers" through an educational quiz that promotes cleaner boats.
The organization is particularly keen on ridding the Great Lakes of aquatic species. It said that about 185 non-native aquatic species—like zebra mussels and round gobies and fish diseases like viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS)—are rooted in the lakes, with a new one discovered on average every eight months. "The waters are increasingly becoming devoid of native fish and other life," said the website. "The University of Wisconsin 's Sea Grant Institute has found that since 1990, when zebra mussels really began to take hold, Lake Michigan 's yellow perch population has decreased by about 80 percent."

Take the Clean Boats Challenge to enter to win some great prizes and to test your clean boat savvy.
Goto: Izaak Walton League of America

If you would like to review proper procedures for cleaning your boat prior to taking the quiz, goto “How to Clean Your Equipment Properly”
How to Clean Your Equipment Properly