Utah wildlife officials say a boat recently launched in Flaming Gorge
Reservoir was contaminated with zebra mussels, but the mussels were dead.
A zebra mussel scare last week at Flaming Gorge Reservoir shows how hard it will be to keep the exotic creatures from invading Utah.
Division of Wildlife Resources (DWR) biologists inspected a boat, recently purchased in Minnesota by a man from Ogden, and found mussels on the drive shaft.
They were relieved to discover the mussels were dead.
"We dodged a bullet," said Lowell Marthe, DWR project leader for Flaming Gorge Reservoir. "If that boat had not sat out of the water through the winter in Minnesota we would probably have zebra mussels in Utah."
Zebra mussels and quagga mussels were brought to North America from Europe by ship and introduced in the Great Lakes about 20 years ago. The tiny mussels reproduce rapidly and pose a threat to fish by reducing plankton. The mussels build huge colonies and can threaten dam operations, culinary water projects and boats of all sizes.
They are difficult and expensive to remove from boats and docks and nearly impossible to eradicate when in a lake or reservoir.
The Flaming Gorge incident happened June 4 when a boat mechanic from Lucerne Valley Marina started to work on a 31-foot with twin motors. He noticed the mussels and informed DWR technicians inspecting boats that were being launched at the Lucerne boat ramp.
The boat had been launched in the Gorge on May 25. The owner had taken it for a spin on the lake and a drive shaft broke. He parked it in the dock slip and asked mechanics to pull it from the water and make repairs.
The owner had a professional mussel cleaning procedure done in Minnesota and then again in Utah. He and the state biologists were amazed at the number and location of dead mussels in the drive train area.
Forty-one biologists and technicians are monitoring boats launching across Utah, paying special attention to vessels from out of the state by asking where the boat has been in the past 30 days. If a boat is deemed a risk, it is inspected and in some cases sent to be decontaminated before being allowed to launch.
Because the owner had already registered the boat in Utah and it had not yet been in the water this year, it didn't meet the risk criteria for an inspection.
"We will see more of this kind of incident, hopefully before the boats make it to the water," said Larry Dalton, Aquatic Nuisance Species Coordinator for the DWR. "We see boats on a regular basis at Lake Powell that are infested with quagga mussels. We need to spread the word on the incredible threat of these mussels and that we are taking it seriously."
brettp@sltrib.com
Here's how to help keep quagga and zebra mussels out
of Utah when moving aquatic recreational equipment
from one waterway to another:
* Drain water from your boat's motor, live well, ballast tanks and bilge on land before leaving the lake where you've been boating or fishing.
* After boating, completely inspect your vessel and trailer. If you see mussels, scrape them off and crush them. Also, feel for rough or gritty spots on the hull; those may be young mussels that are hard to see.
* Flush your motor and bilges, and wash your boat's hull and equipment, with water that's at least 104 degrees Fahrenheit to kill any mussels (see related item below). Also clean and wash your trailer, and any other equipment that has come in contact with lake water.
* Air-dry your boat and other equipment for at least five days before launching in another waterway.
* Put any natural fishing baits you've used in trash receptacles at the lake where you used them.
* Twenty-six high-powered decontamination units with 140-degree water are located throughout Utah. Contact a Division of Wildlife Resources office about where the units are located.
Source: Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
