Dangerous zebra mussels found in watercraft at Sask. lakes

Three out-of-province watercraft were discovered in Saskatchewan with zebra mussels this year.

One of those was taken to court over the matter, Ron Hlasny, aquatic ecologist with Saskatchewan Environment, told an irrigation meeting in Moose Jaw. The sailboat came to Lake Diefenbaker from Lake Winnipeg and did not take advantage of a lakeside decontamination program offered by the Manitoba government at the infested lake.

One of the other discoveries was a boat from Minnesota at Crooked Lake with one, an Ontario boat at Last Mountain Lake.

Of more than 2,000 watercraft inspections by conservation officers and the border service, 121 boats were decontaminated.

“Watercraft is the biggest issue,” said Hlasny. “It’s easy to transport watercraft all over the province.” In addition to 40 inspection sites, monitoring of 14 major water bodies and various monitoring partnerships, Saskatchewan Environment asks the public to assist in keeping the mussel out of the province’s waterways. “The sooner we find out something, the faster we can react.”

Zebra mussels have powerful bissel muscle strings that can attach the shell to a boat with 1,200 pounds per square inch pressure.

Once in the water, the prolific zebra mussel sucks in so many nutrients nothing is left for fish and other aquatic life.

The mussels complicate water distribution systems by clogging water intakes and dispersal devices.

Ron Walter can be reached at ronjoy@sasktel.net