Mussels Fuel Algae Blooms That Smother Beaches, Shorelines

Bridge photo/John Russell

More graphic evidence of the damage that invasive species can do is on display right now at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore on Lake Michigan. It is awash in decaying algae blooms.

Filter-feeding zebra and quagga mussels have increased clarity so much that sunlight can penetrate much deeper and, thus, generate more algae growth. Then, with cloud cover and cooler water at the end of summer, the blooms die and wash ashore.

"This is the worst I’ve ever seen this beach -- and I’ve been coming here for 50 years. It’s really sad," said Ron Long, a Milford resident who was visiting the popular Esch Road beach near Empire.

Read more here.

Mussels Filter Life Out of Great Lakes

Lake Michigan photo courtesy of robojamie.

Accu Weather offers this basic article that explains what zebra and quagga mussels are doing to the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Here is the most important paragraph:

“The invasive species are doing significant damage on the ecosystem, particularly for native mussels. The zebra and quagga mussels anchor themselves onto the native mussels, which hinders their ability to function. The waters in the affected lakes are so clear because the algae and other organisms are being wiped out, which are supposed to provide a food source to many other aquatic creatures.”

During my years as a conservation writer, I’ve learned that too many people mistakenly associate clear water with a healthy ecosystem. Even worse, they think “the clearer, the better.”

Actually, ultra clarity indicates the base of the food chain is weak or nonexistent, and, as a result, fish and other aquatic creatures will have a tough time surviving. That’s why sport fisheries all over the Great Lakes are declining.

The same could happen in some inland fisheries as zebra and quagga mussels become established and their populations explode.

Missouri Asks Anglers to Help Keep Harmful Alga Out of State Waters

Photo courtesy Missouri Department of Conservation

Missouri is trying to keep didymo, also known as “rock snot,” out of its waters.

With the start of catch-and-keep trout season March 1, the state will ban the use of porous-soled waders or footwear incorporating or having attached a porous sole of felted, matted, or woven fibrous material when fishing in trout parks and other specific trout waters.

In fact, stream fishermen all across the country should stop using these types of waders, which are suspected in the spread of this invasive alga, which smothers the bottoms of cold-water streams and rivers with thick mats. In doing so, it degrades habitat and lessens forage available for trout and other predatory fish.

Didymo also clogs water intakes and boat motors, according to the Missouri Department of Conservation, which says “It interferes with fishing gear and eventually makes fishing nearly impossible, with devastating economic and environmental consequences.”

Biologist Mark VanPatten explains, “Porous-soled waders and wading boots, worn by many trout anglers, appear to be a likely pathway for the spread of didymo.

 “The soles hold moisture for days and can harbor cells of this alga. Individual cells cannot be seen with the naked eye and only a single cell is needed to establish a stream-killing colony. Anglers who visit waters with didymo can, unknowingly, transfer these cells to the next stream they visit.”

To learn more about didymo and how to reduce its spread, go here.

As Carp Move Closer, Great Lakes Already Are Being Destroyed by Invasive Speies

Illustration by Daniel Hertzberg

Asian carp migrating ever closer to Lake Michigan aren’t the only threat to the fisheries of the Great Lakes. Exotic species already established there, including round gobies and zebra and quagga mussels, already are doing catastrophic damage.

Fisheries crashing, birds dying of botulism, toxic blue-green algae flourishing. These are some of the unforeseen consequences from introduction of these invaders by ballast water from oceangoing ships.

Writing at OnEarth, Barry Yeoman says the following:

After a decades-long absence, blue-green algae are again flourishing in Lake Erie -- and it’s never been worse than it is this summer. The algal infestation is just one of many factors that biologists in Ohio, Michigan, and elsewhere say are pointing toward an ecosystem in danger of collapse.

And in The Detroit News, David Spratt offers this:

Today, southern Lake Huron is virtually devoid of king salmon, thanks to food web changes wrought by invasive species like zebra and quagga mussels.

The salmon, simply put, have been starved out. Officials estimate that each port city on southern and central Lake Huron has lost more than $1 million in annual revenue that was generated by salmon fishing.

So, hey, maybe we shouldn’t worry about closing the manmade connection between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River drainage to keep out Asian carp. The fisheries might be so far gone that another invasive wouldn’t matter so much after all.

Toxic Algae at Record Levels on Lake Erie

As Activist Angler reported yesterday, many fisheries in the Great Plains are plagued by toxic algae blooms. They aren’t the only ones.

Blue-green algae blooms have been a seasonal problem on Lake Erie since the mid 1990s. But in recent years, they’ve grown worse, fed by farm fertilizers and sewer overflows. Possibly exotic zebra mussels have contributed as well, gobbling up more benign algae and other phytoplankton, while leaving the toxic blue-green to flourish with less competition.

Here is the latest from the Great Lakes Echo:

The news about Great Lakes algae just keeps getting worse.

Data at the University of Toledo’s Lake Erie Center in Oregon, Ohio, shows twice as much potentially deadly microcystis in western Lake Erie as there was this time last year. That’s significant because 2010 recorded the most such algae since a new reporting method began in 2002.

Read Lake Erie on pace for record toxic algae crop to learn more.