
Learn how to control zebra mussels
Zebra mussels came to North American waters in international shipping ballast water and were discovered in Lake St. Clair near Detroit in 1988. Since then, zebra mussels have spread rapidly throughout the Great Lakes and connected waterways of the Mississippi and Hudson rivers. Zebra mussels were first reported in Missouri in 1991 in the Mississippi River near St. Louis.
While commercial barges no doubt carry attached adult zebra mussels to uninfested reaches of large rivers, one of the greatest risks for spreading them to lakes and rivers is overland transport on boats, motors, trailers, docks, aquatic plants, pumps and other equipment. Larger adult zebra mussels can live several days out of water in moist, shaded areas. Boats used, moored or stored in infested waters may carry hitchhiking mussels attached to their hulls, engine drive units and anchor chains.
Microscopic zebra mussel larva can survive in boat bilge water, livewells, bait buckets and engine cooling water systems. However, they die quickly when their hiding places are warmed in the sun or when they “blow dry” on the highway on the trip home.
The economic impacts of zebra mussels in North America during the next decade are expected to be in the billions of dollars. Zebra mussels can:
If you are a boater, angler, water skier, scuba diver, sailor, canoeist or other type of water recreationist, you can prevent the spread of zebra mussels and keep your own equipment from being fouled by completing the following steps: