Manitoba moves against zebra mussels

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This article was published 04/12/2014 (4125 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government wants to bring more muscle to its war on zebra mussels.

Conservation and Water Stewardship Minister Gord Mackintosh introduced legislation Wednesday he said would bring more control to the spread of zebra mussels and other invasive species to the province’s lakes and rivers by summer.

The new rules would require drain plug removal before moving a boat to a different body of water and give conservation officers the power to pull over vehicles hauling boats for inspection.

A new fine structure for transporting an invasive species — the current fine is $252 — is also being reviewed.

The new measures are in response to the discovery last year of zebra mussels in the south basin of Lake Winnipeg and the threat they pose to the lake’s sport and commercial fishery. Last summer, the government targeted zebra mussels at four Lake Winnipeg harbours, but increasing surveillance found they had still taken root. The treated harbours were at Gimli, Winnipeg Beach, Arnes and Balsam Bay.

“The challenging aspect of this invasion is that the south basin does have a proliferation of zebra mussels,” Mackintosh said. “We’ve found increased numbers as a result of all the monitoring.

“We are in for one long war.”

Mackintosh said the new legislation would prohibit the possession, transportation and release of aquatic invasive species and designate control zones where further restrictions on boaters could be established to prevent the introduction or control the spread of an aquatic invasive species. It would also work in conjunction with legislation being considered by Ottawa and other provinces.

“There are over 80,000 boats in Manitoba every summer,” Mackintosh said. “That’s a lot of boats. It only takes one to infest an entire lake, and it may well have been one boat that infested Lake Winnipeg.”

The province says if the freshwater mollusk continues to thrive in the lake, it could foul beaches, curb production of certain fish, contribute to the growth of green-algae blooms on the lake and clog water-treatment plant intake pipes and effluent-discharge pipes.

Mackintosh said the intent of the legislation, to be spelled out in regulations in the new year, is aimed specifically at boaters. One provision is boaters would be required to drain the bilge and bait water from their boats before going from one water body to another.

Conservation officers will also be given the authority to stop and inspect boats to make sure that is happening.

Mackintosh said the province also wants to get ahead of the possible introduction of quagga mussels to Manitoba. Quagga mussels, already found in Minnesota, are just as damaging as zebra mussels but thrive in colder water.

Candace Parks, the province’s aquatic invasive species specialist, said boaters coming from out of province will be required to stop at inspection and decontamination stations. Inspections have been voluntary under existing practice.

Free Press fishing columnist Don Lamont said the other challenge is educating all boaters about the threat of zebra mussels and invasive pests to sport angling.

“It’s extremely important that we get everybody to pull together on the same page,” Lamont said. “It’s just not about going to catch fish. We have to convince people that this is a real problem.”

bruce.owen@freepress.mb.ca