Zebra Mussels found in Mass

[Airwaves]

They could be spread to Lake Winnipesaukee and other bodies of waters by boat. See the Mass Fish and Game and DCR press release below.

Department of Fish and Game Takes Action to Prevent Possible Spread of Invasive Zebra Mussels
Responding to local concerns, agency authorizes municipalities to restrict use of public boat ramps on water bodies susceptible to infestation; temporary, emergency measures to remain in place no longer than 45 days

BOSTON – In the wake of last week’s discovery of zebra mussels in Laurel Lake in Lee and Lenox – the first confirmed presence of the invasive species in Massachusetts - and in response to concerns from local officials in nearby communities, the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) today authorized municipalities to enforce limited restrictions on the use of boat ramps at other Berkshire County water bodies deemed at-risk to infestation by the highly destructive species.

The purpose of Friday’s action by DFG’s Office of Fishing and Boating Access (OFBA) is to reduce the risk that boats that have recently been on Laurel Lake will transport zebra mussels to other Berkshire County lakes, ponds and rivers. Coming on the heels of OFBA’s emergency closure of the state boat ramp at Laurel Lake on July 8, it authorizes local boat ramp managers to bar the use of boat ramps at susceptible water bodies by vessels ramp managers determine have been on Laurel Lake within the last 30 days unless boats in question have undergone specific cleaning and disinfection. These measures include thoroughly draining, flushing, cleaning and drying the boat – including the engine, bilge, ballast water, recreational equipment and anything else that has come in contact with lake water; using a bleach solution and high pressure hot water; and allowing the boat to dry for at least one week in dry weather and up to 30 days in cool, wet weather.

Under Massachusetts regulations, both today’s OFBA action and the July 8 Laurel Lake boat ramp closure cannot remain in effect longer than 45 days without public notice and opportunity for public comment.

The OFBA has authority to close state boat ramps, or authorize municipal officials to restrict access, for not more than 45 days if it finds that the immediate establishment of management measures is necessary for the public health, safety or general welfare. Zebra mussels, which significantly alter lake ecology and can harm native animals, humans, and boats, can be unknowingly transported from one lake to another by boaters.

In addition today’s emergency action, DFG and the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) announced that they will host a public meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, July 15, at Pittsfield City Hall to present information on the status of zebra mussel infestation at Laurel Lake and boat ramp issues, provide background on zebra mussels and DCR’s ongoing public awareness program in western Massachusetts, and discuss future actions such as what citizens can do to prevent the species from spreading.

The Commonwealth is committed to maintaining public access to these bodies of water as required under existing law, and its long-term zebra mussel management plan is focused on containment through public education and enforcement of rigorous boat cleaning rules. But restricting boat access on a temporary basis provides additional safeguards while state invasive species experts determine the scope and severity of the zebra mussel infestation in Laurel Lake, the possible infestation of neighboring water bodies, the level of risk that exists regarding transport of the mussels by boats from one water body to another, and appropriate management measures going forward. Temporary boat access restrictions will reduce the chance of accidentally spreading the species while state officials make the boating public aware of preventive measures.

As part of this effort, the DCR, which confirmed the presence of zebra mussels in Laurel Lake last week, has provided guidance to officials of the Laurel Lake association, urging them to contact lakefront property owners and request that they not remove their boats from the lake. The association was also asked to distribute zebra mussel educational materials and post additional signs alerting boaters and others that Laurel Lake contains zebra mussels. Volunteer boat ramp monitors trained by area lake associations in cooperation with the DCR will help to enforce the boat ramp restrictions, along with DCR ramp monitors trained by agency biologists. The DCR plans to hire two additional ramp monitors within the next two weeks to assist with this effort.

In addition, to determine the extent of the infestation, DCR will conduct surveys of Laurel Lake and downstream areas next week. Surrounding lakes in Berkshire County are being surveyed by DCR-trained volunteers and the Berkshire Regional Planning Commission. The DCR’s survey will target lakes with calcium concentrations and other water quality characteristics necessary to support breeding populations of zebra mussels. In addition, the OFBA’s authorization for municipalities to restrict use of other Berkshire County boat ramps is limited to water bodies determined by DCR to have the water chemistry necessary to support zebra mussel colonies.

Ramps that could have limited restrictions under this emergency measure include:

· Laurel Lake Lee
· Goose Pond Tyringham
· Shaw Pond Otis
· Big Pond Otis
· Lake Buel Monterey
· Thousand Acre Pond New Marlborough
· Windsor Pond Windsor
· Stockbridge Bowl Stockbridge
· Richmond Pond Richmond
· Onota Lake Pittsfield
· Pontoosuc Lake Pittsfield

A freshwater bivalve mollusk that looks like a small clam with a yellowish or brownish shell shaped like the letter “D,” zebra mussels have been found in numerous lakes, ponds and rivers in the United States, including the entire Great Lakes region and Connecticut, New York, and Vermont. Nationally, taxpayers spend billions of dollars a year to control zebra mussel infestations, which, once established, are usually impossible to eradicate. Considered among the country’s most significant invasive species, the mussels out-compete juvenile fish for food and cling by the thousands to virtually everything in a water body - including docks, boats, other aquatic organisms, and various water intake pipes and instruments. Microscopic juvenile zebra mussels can get into boat cooling systems and other water intakes and grow, completely clogging these systems. Found in numbers as high as 750,000 individuals per square meter, their razor-sharp shells wash up on shore, creating a safety hazard for beachgoers.

In 2005, DCR developed a Rapid Response Plan for The Zebra Mussel, which focused on public education, and preventing and/or slowing the spread of the mussels from one body of water to another. The plan directs the state to take steps to minimize the transport of the mussels when infestation is extensive. Steps may include “screening of outlets, curtaining of interbasin channels and preventing human use of the body of water.”

To view DCR’s Rapid Response Plan go to http://www.mass.gov/dcr/watersupply/...a%20mussel.pdf.

DCR’s Lakes and Ponds Program conducts ongoing zebra mussel education, outreach and monitoring, and has trained volunteers to collect samples to monitor the species. It was a DCR-trained volunteer who first detected zebra mussels in Laurel Lake. The DCR program includes informative boat ramp signage and an educational brochure on zebra mussels.

DCR and DFG recommend that boaters who have boated in an infested lake thoroughly drain, flush, clean and dry their boat and all recreational equipment before launching it in any other lake. This includes the boat engine, bilge, ballast water, or anything else that has come into contact with the water. Boaters should use a bleach solution along with high-pressure hot water, and dry the boat for at least one week in dry weather and up to 30 days in cool, wet environments.

For more information on zebra mussels, http://www.mass.gov/dcr/waterSupply/...a%20Mussel.pdf

[ApS]

The presence of zebra mussels would be a mixed bag for Lake Winnipesaukee, but overwhelmingly bad.

1) Water will produce a strong musty odor to the air,
2) increase blue-green blooms and toxins (cyanobacteria),
3) clear the water markedly,
4) possibly increase "duck-itch" in some locales.
5) Deep-water fish (Salmon) will be affected by the lack of oxygen at lower depths.
6) Navigational aids will sink from their clinging weight.
7) Property values will drop,
8) Water quality will be degraded
9) Due to the size and sharpness of their shells, shoes will need to be worn when entering the water.

"Masses of cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are becoming more common...because of the mussels. Some species of cyanobacteria secrete chemicals that alter the taste of drinking water and create a foul odor. Others emit toxins that can be potentially harmful to humans...

"However, over the last decade, we're starting to see cyanobacteria re-emerging, and we believe it's due to zebra mussels altering the lakes' water chemistry," says Andrew Laursen, co-author of the study and a professor of chemistry and biology...

"The study, published in a recent issue of the journal Science of the Total Environment, found that zebra mussels are picky eaters - they don't care for blue-green algae.

"The mussels collect the algae in mucous that they release back into the water. Nitrogen converts to gas when the mucous begins to break down, and phosphorous is left over. This might make the water crystal clear, but it's wreaking havoc with ecosystems.

"A high phosphorous-to-nitrogen ratio favors cyanobacteria growth and, with zebra mussels in the water, all of a sudden we've started seeing it again," Laursen says.

It's hard to predict which lakes will be affected because cyanobacteria growth can loom up literally overnight.

"You might look at a lake and see nothing day after day and then all of a sudden, bam, it's green and smells," says Laursen. "It's almost instantaneous because cyanobacteria reproduce and divide exponentially."

Laursen's research team simulated the ecosystem of lakes by constructing water columns, some with zebra mussels and others without. Oxygenated water containing food for the zebra mussels was pumped from the bottom to the top of each column.

The researchers found the ratio of phosphorus to nitrogen went up when mussels were present, creating favorable conditions for toxic cyanobacteria to grow.

Zebra mussels were first discovered in 1988 in Lake St. Clair, near Detroit. It is believed the tiny mollusks were brought to North America from eastern Europe in the ballast water of transatlantic ships.

Since their discovery, zebra mussels have rapidly spread through the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River system, and many inland lakes in southern Ontario and Quebec.

Frank Borgatti and his family are just some of the thousands of unlucky victims of the zebra mussel invasion. And now he's worried that an outbreak of cyanobacteria could lower property values.

"If people become aware of this problem, they might not be inclined to purchase lakefront property," Borgatti says. "All of a sudden the benefits of the lake that we had growing up aren't available to our kids or grandchildren."

"You can't avoid them no matter what you do. You can't eradicate them," he says. "It's like a plague."

"Laursen says cottagers can take steps to cut down on the risk of cyanobacteria developing in lakes by curbing their use of certain dishwashing detergents that still contain phosphorous, and making sure septic systems are efficient.

"But zebra mussels aren't going anywhere, he adds.

"We've reached a point where we've learned to deal with zebra mussels as a reality. They're here to stay."

http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:...&gl=us&strip=1

Lake Erie's experience:

"The immediate effect on Lake Erie was to make it an unpopular recreational location due to cyanobacteria’s strong odor. The effect did not end there, however. During the winter season, these blooms would die and sink to the lake floor where they covered fish spawning and feeding locations. Ultimately, the decaying blooms would deplete dissolved oxygen from the water that fish and aquatic life needed to survive; the result was an area within the lake known as a 'dead zone.'"

http://www.estormwater.com/Beautifyi...ol-article8245

More on zebra mussels:

http://74.125.45.132/search?q=cache:...&ct=clnk&gl=us

[Skipper]

Unfortunately I think it is only a matter of time before we see these nasties invade the big lake. I would not be surprised to learn that there are already a few of them here just quietly multiplying. I hope not.

[tis]

A mixed bag APS? Sounds to me like it is all bad. What is good about them?

[mcdude]

There was already one "save" by a boat ramp monitor who noticed them on a boat that was about to be launched in Meredith back in 2005 ( see related thread ).....How many more have gotten through? scary stuff...

[Grant]

I've seen these things multiply first-hand, and it is truly amazing how prolific they are.

Our local dive spot is a 50-acre spring-fed former limestone quarry with depths up to 106 feet (as of Saturday). It attracts hordes of divers between April and November, and features many sunken 'attractions' ranging from airplanes to boats to a trolley car, school bus, trucks, etc., etc.

In an attempt to improve the visibility (which wasn't bad to begin with), the owners introduced zebra mussels a some years ago. They now blanket many surfaces -- including entire walls of the quarry, structures (an old dynamite shack and bunker from the quarrying days). They have improved visibility, but we've also noticed a dip in the fish population (the owners work with a biologist to keep bass, trout, koi and other species in the lake).

No discernible odor from the water -- yet. And the sharpness doesn't impact divers, who are typically clad in dry suits or 6-7mm wetsuits, hoods, and gloves.

These things would be positively devastating to Winnipesaukee. However, with all the boats that trailered in (unwashed, with bilge), I'm also afraid it's just a matter of time.

[Justenuff]

About 15 years ago I started hearing about the zebra mussels infesting Lake Champlain from a mechanic who worked for the old Wyeth Labs plant in Rouses Point. He said they had to implement a preventive maintenance plan to remove the mussels from the water intake pumps for the plant. He had been working there for about 15 years and they noticed the problem getting worse over the previous two years, so they grow pretty quickly.
Western Mass was only a matter of time before the lakes started coming up with the mussels. Soon it will be all over New England.

[Grant]

Zebra Mussels, Canada Geese, White Nose Syndrome, Milfoil, Algae Blooms...

Certainly lots of unwanted, man-influenced natural phenomena impacting the region. What do you bet the WNS killing the bats is ultimately something man-driven as well? Then we'd be batting 1.000.

And, just for old-time's sake, let's not leave out ROCK BASS.

[TOAD]

They have closed down Quabbin Reservoir to private boats for at least the next 45 days.

Quabbin is one of the best smallmouth, lake trout, and salmon fisheries in the North East. Wild an wonderful is the only way to describe the Q.

It was my favorite fishing hole. This may speed up my plans to buy in the Lakes Region.

[hilltopper]

Originally Posted by TOAD

They have closed down Quabbin Reservoir to private boats for at least the next 45 days.

Quabbin is one of the best smallmouth, lake trout, and salmon fisheries in the North East. Wild an wonderful is the only way to describe the Q.

It was my favorite fishing hole. This may speed up my plans to buy in the Lakes Region.

Curious as to what they hope to accomplish with a 45 day closure? Unfortunately I agree with posters above...it's probably just a matter of time. The 45 day closure makes no sense to me unless it turns into a permanant closure. Either permanently close the resevoir or go over every incoming boat with a fine tooth comb...

EDIT: Found some other info that suggests their using a 45 day closure to develop a process for checking incoming boats. This makes sense...

[Airwaves]

Closure of boat ramps is allowed under Mass law by the direction of the Department of Fish and Game's Office of Fishing and Boating Access (OFBA) as stated in the press release

The OFBA has authority to close state boat ramps, or authorize municipal officials to restrict access, for not more than 45 days if it finds that the immediate establishment of management measures is necessary for the public health, safety or general welfare.

As was published in today's Boston Globe, the DFG and DCR are using that time to come up with a plan to deal with boaters spreading the mussel larve from waterway to waterway.

The treatment appears to be drastic and something most boaters will find objectionable, IMHO.

DCR and DFG recommend that boaters who have boated in an infested lake thoroughly drain, flush, clean and dry their boat and all recreational equipment before launching it in any other lake. This includes the boat engine, bilge, ballast water, or anything else that has come into contact with the water. Boaters should use a bleach solution along with high-pressure hot water, and dry the boat for at least one week in dry weather and up to 30 days in cool, wet environments.

I also read in the paper this week that a kayaker launched in Laura Lake in spite of residents telling him about the problem. He said he "knew how to deal with it" and wasn't going to let it interfer with his pleasure (paraphrased).