ADDITIONAL ZEBRA MUSSELS FOUND IN IOWA GREAT LAKES RAISING FEARS OF POSSIBLE INFESTATION
Tue 12-18-2012
(Spirit Lake)—DNR officials say the recent discovery of additional zebra mussels in the Iowa Great Lakes mean their worse fears may be about to come true.
The agency says three more juvenile zebra mussels were found attached to docks and hoists removed this fall from East Lake Okoboji. They say it’s increasing the likelihood that the invasive species may be establishing itself in the Iowa Great Lakes. But Mike Hawkins, a fisheries biologist with the DNR, says it’s still too early to tell if there is truly an infestation of the invasive species in the lakes…(click here for comment.) “Well, the evidence is starting to build. It looks like we’re headed that direction. Although the department is not going to declare there’s an infestation. We still haven’t found an adult zebra mussel yet, and we haven’t documented any beyond the larval form of the zebra mussel, so until that time we can still cross our fingers and hope that we don’t have a naturally reproducing population, but the evidence is starting to mount that we may have them.” Okay, and that begs the question what if anything can be done? “Really nothing. There’s a lot of folks doing a lot of research on zebra mussels and zebra mussel control. There are a few things that maybe will hold some promise in the future but at this point there really is nothing to do. Prevention is really the only tool when we’re talking about zebra mussels, so, yeah, it’s unfortunate but there is no solution.”
Zebra mussels are filter feeders that directly compete with native species for food. They adhere to hard objects, and if their population density is high enough, can clog intakes for drinking water utilities. DNR officials say that could impact their operations at the State Fish Hatchery in Orleans.
