Good News on the Carp Front; Bad News About Zebra Mussels

There’s good news and bad news on the invasive species front.

Let’s start with the good, since that so rarely happens:

During a Great Lakes governors’ summit, Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn voiced support for separating the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basins as a way to keep Asian carp and other invasive species from migrating into the lakes.

“Ultimately, I think we have to separate the basins,” the governor said. “I really feel that is the ultimate solution. We have to do it.”

Quinn’s defection from the side that opposes separation, supported by commercial navigation interests, could be a tipping point toward a real solution that would save the $7.5 billion fishing industry --- unless the carp already have moved past the electric barriers. 

Almost certainly bighead and silver will not show up immediately after they enter the Great Lakes. We won’t see one here and another there. Suddenly, they just will be there in substantial numbers --- as happened with snakeheads in the Potomac River.

It’s important to remember too that these two basins were connected by man, not nature. The connection was made so that Chicago’s sewage would flow downstream, instead of contaminating its Lake Michigan water supply. Commercial navigation on the waterway developed from there.

Meanwhile, the Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper says this in an editorial:

“Illinois political leaders, such as Quinn and former Sen. Barack Obama, have a long history of kowtowing to Chicago shipping industry cronies who oppose the surest strategy for preventing these gilled gluttons from laying waste a precious liquid asset that floats a $7.5 billion fishing industry and 800,000 jobs .

“It was Quinn who inked a deal with a Chinese meat processing plant and an Illinois fishing operation in 2010 under a "if you can't beat 'em, eat 'em" initiative that has sent more than 700 tons of the piscine palate pleasers to Asia.

“But hydrological separation remains the only true solution. Now that Quinn's on board, maybe President Obama could join him in putting the public good over political expediency.”

 *    *   *

The bad news is that zebra mussels have been found in northern Minnesota, in a lake that connects to Rainy River. That could allow them entrance into massive Lake of the Woods.

The CBC reports that an aquatic invasive species outreach liaison with the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters said if zebra mussels migrate to Lake of the Woods, their habit of straining out plankton could be disastrous to the sport fishery there.

“If you take out the energy in the bottom of the food chain, as you move up the food chain, there will be less energy for your walleye or lake trout,” Matt Smith said.

Columbia River Ripe for Mussels Invasion

Portland State University researchers recently revealed some bad news regarding the Columbia River Basin: Water chemistry and temperature there are sufficient, if not ideal, to support invasion by quagga and zebra mussels.

“We found that 68 percent of mussels raised in untreated Columbia River water gained weight,” said researchers Brian Adair. “This does not bode well for the Columbia.”

On a positive note, water in the Willamette appears only marginal for mussels, due to lower calcium levels.

Scientists obtained the results by placing mussels from Lake Mead in containers of untreated water from the two rivers. Then they observed the mussels as calcium concentrations and water temperatures were changed.

“This appears to confirm our fears that mussels would grow well in the Columbia,” said Bill Bradbury of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. “The results underscore the importance of the boat inspection programs and other efforts in our states to keep mussels out of Northwest waters.”

Researchers also are testing several types of coatings to see how well they inhibit mussel growth. Given acceptable surfaces, the shellfish block water intakes with their dense colonies, as well as deplete nutrients and smother fish habitat.

(This article appeared originally in B.A.S.S. Times.)

Exotic Species Are Killing Loons --- Not Lead

As preservationists --- many with an anti-fishing agenda --- continue to press for bans on lead fishing tackle to protect loons, read the following story to see what is really killing the birds. This is a real danger, not one manufactured to support an ideology, with little basis in science and fact.

And it provides a tragic example of how introductions of exotics can have unforeseen consequences.

Chain of Environmental Consequences Slaughtering Birds

State Funds Needed in Nebraska to Fight Invasive Species

Editor's Note: This is a speech that Teeg Stouffer of Recycled Fish prepared in support for state funding to fight invasive species in Nebraska. His actual presentation differed a bit, but not the message: State money is needed to combat mussels, carp, and other invasive threats to Nebraska waters.

My name is Teeg Stouffer, I’m the Executive Director of a non-profit fisheries conservation organization called Recycled Fish. Although our work is national in scope, we’re proudly centered right here in Nebraska. I appreciate the opportunity to testify in support of LB 63.

Since our organization is national in scope, I see the threat of invasive species all over the country firsthand.  It’s to our shame as Nebraskans that it’s a problem that’s being better addressed elsewhere than it is here, and we need more comprehensive support in our state.

LB63 is an important step in that direction. When federal funding runs out, we will be left defenseless against threats like zebra mussels and quagga mussels, which we’ve been able to keep out of our waters for now.

The thing with these invasive species is that once they’re established, there’s virtually no getting rid of them. Smart money chooses low costs today to prevent a problem rather than high costs tomorrow to solve a problem. LB63 is smart money, and that’s why we support it, and we hope you will, too.

Let me paint a quick picture – some of you have seen it. Imagine a lake floor that spans for hundreds of acres. Every rock, every log, every wrecked boat on the bottom is coated, blanketed, with dime-sized mussels – like little clams. They breed by releasing veligers --- little larvae that float in the water. A current pulls them into a pipe --- like the outlet at Lake McConaughy.  And all of a sudden, they’re headed downstream, to cling to a rock, or an irrigation intake, to start a new colony. That’s how it happens. Or it could start with one uninspected boat. The solution is simple. But it’s not free. LB 63 provides the funds.

Colorado invests millions in the prevention of these invaders because of how that state moves water in big concrete tubes between its reservoirs to provide a water supply for their cities. If they get an infestation, the removal costs could 10-times everybody’s water bills.

Imagine what an infestation in the Tri-County Canal systems might look like, and how that would impact farmers. In the span of a couple of years you can have mussels clinging to mussels --- choking out a three-foot diameter tube, so water can’t flow. Sounds like a horrible impact for Nebraska’s farmers, who are reliant on irrigation, doesn’t it?   

Now, I don’t speak for the Nebraska Fish & Game Association, but I’m a member, and I do know that in a poll of its members, anglers in this state supported LB 63 with about a 2/3 majority. That’s a strong show of support from the state’s sportsmen, and it speaks to the fact that sportsmen want to see our natural and wild places protected. They’re counting on you.

I speak for Recycled Fish and our 15,000 stewards across America --- perhaps 500 of which are in Nebraska --- when I ask you to support the bill on behalf of anglers.

But in closing, I speak for myself --- not for my organization --- but for myself, when I say that I’m a person of faith, and I bet some of you are, too. Way back there in Genesis God said to us, “Hey, take care of this place that I made,” and in the time since, we’ve done a pretty terrible job caring for His Creation. This is a chance we’ve all got to do one thing right, so let’s do it. The generations to come are counting on us. 

Funds Needed to Combat Invasive Species in Nebraska, but 'Nobody Cares'

In Nebraska, those who care about protecting the state’s waters from invasive species are trying to raise awareness and obtain funding to do battle. The legislature tasked the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission with the job, but provided no money.

As proposed in Legislative Bill 63, introduced by Sen. Ken Schliz, $1.2 million from taxes generated by motorboat sales or leases would fund a program to monitor and control aquatic invasive species.  

“What it comes down to is that the bill's sponsors feel that this allocation of sales tax revenue on boats is the best way to get the measly $1.2 million to at least get some education programs going, start some inspections, and maybe get a few wash out-stations set up at some lakes around the state,” a source told Activist Angler.

Teeg Stouffer, executive director of Recycled Fish, was one of those testifying on behalf of the proposal in a committee hearing.
“There were a bunch of testimonies for our bill and none against it, so these Senators would really have to have an agenda to not pass it out of committee and onto the floor,” he said.

He also made another observation, one that troubles, but does not surprise me:

“When I walked into the hearing room at 1:05, I was the first one there for a 1:30 hearing. Perhaps 1 out of 10 seats wound up being filled in the room.

“Meanwhile, there was a sea of people clogging one hallway --- more than could fit in a hearing room. That’s the difference between a hearing on a gay adoption bill and a natural resources bill.

“The thing that's a shame to me is that most people will never have anything to do with gay adoption, but we all drink water, eat food, and power our homes. Zebra mussel infestations could decimate our irrigation systems and heap more hardship on our farmers, which translates to higher food prices. Zebra mussels could 10x our water bills, and 10x our power bills. Nobody knows. Nobody cares.”