Zebra mussels found in Lake Texoma

[LakePirate]

Zebra mussel fears spread to Lake Lavon | Latest News | WFAA.com

Now what are we going to do?

[jjns]

Same thing you always do.
About 20 years ago Zebra muscles were found in the Great Lakes. At the time, it was predicted that the sky was falling, the fisheries would die and all hell would break loose, not too mention that several million people rely on those lakes for their drinking water.
Fast forward to today. The fisheries are doing just fine, the drinking water is just fine and the sky did not fall.
On the upside water clarity has improved and algae production seems to be less.
On the downside, the little buggers do tend to clog things up a bit.
So there will be more cleaning/replacement of intake grates and maybe a little more work cleaning up the boats.
Then again, those things almost sound like business opportunities.

[bobmcgov]

Introduce Flying Carp to eat them. Duh.

[casioqv]

From what I've heard, the Zebra mussels have caused over $5 billion in damage so far in the Great Lakes.

As a "trailer sailor" I don't sail in lakes with Zebra/Quagga muscles, since I don't want to take the chance of spreading them when I launch in another lake. It sounds like they could be a huge problem for someone with a moored sailboat, especially if you have an inboard engine that has through-hulls for coolant water.

I think in the long term the mussels will either kill everything and sterilize the lakes they're in wiping themselves (and all other species) out, or else they will reach an equilibrium with reasonable population levels, probably wiping out other competing species in the process. Either way you're wiping out native species - possibly some which we depend on for food and income.

You never really know what will happen when you introduce an invasive species, and it can be drastically different in different areas. What played out in the great lakes might not be the same in Lake Texoma.

They're not the end of the world, but they can cause a lot of damage. I'm happy to see that they now have somewhat effective programs in place to keep them from spreading further.

Originally Posted by jjns

Same thing you always do.
About 20 years ago Zebra muscles were found in the Great Lakes. At the time, it was predicted that the sky was falling, the fisheries would die and all hell would break loose, not too mention that several million people rely on those lakes for their drinking water.
Fast forward to today. The fisheries are doing just fine, the drinking water is just fine and the sky did not fall.
On the upside water clarity has improved and algae production seems to be less.
On the downside, the little buggers do tend to clog things up a bit.
So there will be more cleaning/replacement of intake grates and maybe a little more work cleaning up the boats.
Then again, those things almost sound like business opportunities.

[sailortjk1]

From what I've heard, the Zebra mussels have caused over $5 billion in damage so far in the Great Lakes.

Can you back that up with more than "From what I have heard"? I would be very interested in this.

I think one of the biggest issues are the clogged intakes at the Water Flirtation Plants and the cooling intakes at the Power Plants and even there, the impact has not been as sever as once thought to be.

It sounds like they could be a huge problem for someone with a moored sailboat, especially if you have an inboard engine that has through-hulls for coolant water.

We have had a boat moored in the Great Lakes for many years (since 1978). I have never had any problem with clogged intakes. Yes we do find them on the boat after each season. They usually can be found on the very bottom of the keel and on top of the rudder in the very tiny space between the top of the rudder and the hull. I have never found one clinging to the intake nor have I ever found one in the strainer. That does not mean it cannot happen, only that it has not happened to us. I think you will find the amounts of actual cases of clogged intakes on a boat are very minimal.

You never really know what will happen when you introduce an invasive species, and it can be drastically different in different areas. What played out in the great lakes might not be the same in Lake Texoma.

Very true. Who knows what will happen down there. I can only tell you that here, the impact has been minimal in my experience, and in fact, the positive has been the clarity of the water as JJ discussed. Now, go ask some of the recreational fisherman and they may sing a different song, but I don't believe so as my dock neighbor regularly feeds us with fresh salmon.


Now ask them about the Gobie (another invasive species) and they all cringe.

[casioqv]

Originally Posted by sailortjk1

Can you back that up with more than "From what I have heard"? I would be very interested in this.

I found it mentioned here, but I don't think this is the original source:

http://www.nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandle...ocumentID=3879

They also talked about it on the OPB show oregon field guide:
Oregon Field Guide — Quagga Mussels · Oregon Public Broadcasting

[sailortjk1]

Thanks.