The B.C. Government has pledged an additional $2 million in an effort to keep invasive mussels out of B.C. waterways.
The money will help maintain and staff five new monitoring stations at BC’s borders, which will be staffed by 32 conservation officers. The stations will be at Cranbrook, Invermere, Golden,Valemont and Dawson Creek along the B.C. Alberta border and at Penticton, Nelson and the Lower Mainland along the U.S. border. In addition, six mobile decontamination units will be added.
The stations will operate 10 hours a day, seven days a week from April through October.
A pilot mussel screening program last summer inspected over 4,300 boats of which 34 required decontamination and 15 were transporting mussels or their larvae.
“These enhancements to our mussel defence program will help ensure our province remains free of invasive mussels. I also urge all boaters to be aware of the dangers these mussels can cause and practise ‘clean, drain, dry’ to prevent their spread,” said Shuswap MLA Greg Kyllo.
“Clean drain dry” is an initiative endorsed by the Invasive Species Council of British Columbia, that encourages boat owners to clean their boats and equipment, drain their bilges and ballasts and dry their boats before moving them between bodies of water.
The species of mussels being targeted by the screening are Quagga and Zebra mussels. According to the B.C. Government website, no Quagga or Zebra mussel populations are established in any neighbouring province or state. According to the website, the mussels can survive out of the water for several weeks, making transportation attached to a boat from out of the province possible.
According to the government, invasive mussels might pose a threat to aquatic ecosystems, including salmon populations, by displacing native aquatic plants and wildlife. the mussels can also clog the intake pipes of power stations and other facilities.
Quagga and Zebra Mussels are not native to Canada, but were introduced to the great lakes region in the 1980s, they have since spread throughout Ontario and Quebec, as well as in 24 American states.
Gail Wallin, the Executive Director of the Invasive Species Council of B.C. said that even if there are no visible mussels on boats or equipment, immature mussels and their larvae are enough to spread the mussels between waterways. A thorough inspection and pressure washing is needed for boats returning from mussel infested areas, particularly Ontario and Nevada, Wallin said.
“We are all ambassadors for our water.”
