Purdue News

Boaters urged to avoid transporting zebra mussels

Nonindigenous species, those plants and animals not native to the region, can wreak havoc when introduced to waters where they have no predators or other forces to restrain them, says an expert with the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant program.

Zebra mussels, perhaps the best known of nonindigenous nuisance species, have moved out of the Great Lakes into inland waterways. These tiny mollusks attach themselves to boats and fishing equipment, and their free-swimming young can live in standing water found in bait buckets and engine cooling systems. As boats are moved about, zebra mussels are often unknowingly transported from one body of water to another.

Colonies of the tiny mussels form large clusters that can clog water lines. These clusters represent costly threats to industries, municipal water plants and agricultural irrigation systems. Damage also can occur in boat engines if cooling systems are clogged.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant nonindigenous specialist Pat Charlebois noted that cleanup costs and control associated with zebra mussels are significant.

"Great Lakes industries and municipal water suppliers spent an estimated $120 million in cleanup costs in one five-year period following the zebra mussel invasion," she said.

Zebra mussels also harm native species. In addition to clustering onto native mussels, zebra mussels filter phytoplankton and zooplankton, small plants and animals living in the water, reducing the food supply for native species.

According to Charlebois, boaters can help slow the spread of zebra mussels by following a few simple steps:

• Inspect boats, trailers and boating equipment and remove any visible plants or animals.
  
• Drain water from the motor, livewell, bilge and transom wells while on land before leaving any body of water.
  
• Empty bait buckets on land before leaving the body of water. Never release live bait into a body of water. Do not release aquatic animals from one body of water into another.
  
• Wash and dry boats, tackle, downriggers, trailers and other boating equipment to kill harmful species that may not be visible. This task may be done at home.

Other nonindigenous species including ruffe and round gobies also have the potential for economic and ecosystem threats to the southern Lake Michigan region, Charlebois said.

Sea Grant research and education has helped reduce the harmful effects and associated costs of the spread of zebra mussels with presentations at conferences in St. Louis, New Orleans, Illinois and Indiana.

Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant also has created a teaching tool for grade-school teachers called the "Zebra Mussel Mania Traveling Trunk" that may be borrowed at several locations. Indiana lending sites and contact people are: