NEWPORT — Scientists have found invasive zebra mussels in Vermont’s section of Lake Memphremagog, sparking concern among state officials, according to Vermont’s Department of Environmental Conservation.
photo by Kevstan, Wikimedia Commons
Zebra mussels, which scientists have detected in only two other water bodies of Vermont, Lake Champlain and Lake Bomoseen, are considered a harmful species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service due to their rapid proliferation on underwater surfaces.
Surveys taken last summer by Arrowwood Environmental, an environmental consulting group, confirmed adult zebra mussels’ presence in Lake Memphremagog, a lake that extends across the border of Canada to Vermont. They found zebra mussel larvae in all but one of the water samples collected by state scientists, according to a Tuesday press release from the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Staff at the Department of Environmental Conservation and Arrowwood Environmental did not immediately respond to VTDigger’s request for comment.
Accumulation of zebra mussels, called “biofouling,” can hurt the local ecology and economy. Zebra mussels encrust themselves on boats left in water for long periods, which can clog and destroy their machinery. Additionally, the invasive mussels latch onto other native mussels, killing them by outcompeting the native species for food and space, according to the National Park Service.
Zebra mussels were first reported in the Canadian waters of Lake Memphremagog in 2018, according to the release. Since then, the department’s scientists and partners have been monitoring their spread to the southernmost part of the lake, which extends to Newport.
The discovery “renews our concerns about the spread of aquatic invasive species in Vermont,” state scientist Kimberly Jensen said in the release. “As the original population of zebra mussels spread from the northern region of Lake Memphremagog, we expect to see more in the southern region over time.”
Originally found in the Black, Caspian and Azov seas of Eastern Europe, zebra mussels likely invaded the Great Lakes in the 1980s via ballast water taken on by ships coming from Europe. Since their introduction to North America, they have spread as far as the eastern Mississippi River watershed and to Texas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
In order to prevent the spread of invasive species, state officials encouraged boaters and other recreators to use the “Clean, Drain, Dry” initiative when entering and exiting waters with invasive species. They should clean mud, plants and animals from boats and other equipment, dispose of any material in the trash away from nearby water bodies and drain any water from boats away from the water. Any wet equipment should be dried completely and rinsed with hot, high-pressure water or dried in the sun for at least five days.
