Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire The latest on Idaho's quagga mussel dilemna

We recently had a thread about quaggas being found in the Snake River near Twin Falls, ID. They aren't native and were likely carried here by a careless out of state boater. Just a few miles up stream is a stretch of white water with class V rapids that's famous across the country. Many kayakers come here to float it and any of them could have brought them in. It could also be an Idaho boater who visited some place that has them and brought them home. We'll never know for sure.

They just finish treating a 20 mile stretch of the river. Unfortunately, the treatment also kills a lot of fish. This part of the river has trout, bass, crappie, perch, and sturgeon. Many of them can be restocked but growing sturgeon takes many years. I don't know how many fish are killed directly but the treatment kills a lot of their food source.
They had this stretch of river totally closed to boaters, fishermen, and hunters but they had a big problem with the closures being ignored. A lot of these idiots value their immediate fun more than the long term health of the river.

So, will it work? My guess is no. The Snake is over 1000 miles long and drains large sections of ID, WY, OR, and WA before it runs into the Columbia. Any larvae that escaped will eventually reach the Columbia, infecting vast stretches of water. I suspect that they're here to stay.

They are there to stay… soon will be everywhere. Here is a map of the spread

They will continue to spread because, as Rock Chuck pointed out, a large percentage of people just don't GAF. The "me first" attitude held by many will cause unimaginable damage in years to come. GD

As I understand it, they and zebra mussels all came from the holds of Chinese freighters ??

kwg

Hey Rock Chuck, our paper in CDA said that they( I forget what agency) “closed the river” for any activity. What gives some agency, Federal or State, the authority to “close” a public river? I am surprised you folks down south put up with that without some push back.

They took over the Eldorado lake in a very short while. They cover the whole bottom shell to shell. Hard to believe how fast they multiplied. They kepy warning people to take care and do not transport to other places. People will not take precautions like draining live wells and other transport ways. It is a shame for sure.

Keep dumping billions of tons of fertilizer into our waters and you will continue to see problems.

This is exactly the kind of thinking that will cause the mussels to spread. With something as potentially serious as quaggas, an emergency shutdown is necessary. Maybe when they find their way down to the Columbia, then back up to Lake CDA, you'll wonder why something wasn't done before... by some government agency who had the authority to do it.

I have no knowledge of this so I'm curious what damage they cause?

Sadly, it's not going to be limited to just the Snake and Columbia rivers. The Snake gets a lot of boater traffic and water craft of all descriptions will spread them to them to virtually all of the lakes, ponds, rivers, and
streams throughout all of Idaho and the surrounding states.

It seems likely that some of the muscles have already spread beyond that 20 mile stretch of river. Even more likely that a few survived the 'treatment'.
It only takes a very few (2?) to reproduce.

As Rock Chuck said, it's idiots like the guy from CDA that will hasten the devastation.

To many recreational boaters, and a shocking percentage of fishermen, it is simply too much trouble to try and help prevent the spread of these and other invasive species. Many consider it their right to do whatever they may want to do with no concern for any consequences. There is also the problem of deliberately introduced fish species.
The concern with any invasive species is that they have no predators and will out compete native species. In addition, because they may breed unchecked, damage to native species' spawning habitat can occur. GD

It is just too much bother for a staggering number of fishermen and recreational boaters to try to stop the spread of this and other invasive species. In a relatively short time, they seized control of Eldorado Lake. They go from shell to shell over the entire bottom. It's amazing how quickly they proliferated.

I seriously doubt that they were brought in by any whitewater kayakers. There's a boat ramp there at Centennial that sees plenty of motorized launches. Ask any inspection station who brings this stuff in.

Hey guys, I guess now that I ask a question about what gives some federal agency the right to close down a public river that I am now an “idiot”? Personally I agree that the river s/b shut down to keep it clean. I am just wondering what gives some buracratic (sp) agency to shut down a river to all activity? I suppose though , if Biden had done it it would have been a impeachable offense.

Ask yourself what gives them the right to close a highway when there's a hazmat spill.

It’s been in lake Powell for a few years. The effect hasn’t amounted to much.

Free Me,
A highway is built with federal or state, county funds and thus, I suppose authority to close or regulate it. A river though has been in existence long before any beaucratic agency existed. So , what gives them the right to close it?

To explore this problem a bit ! We all propose to want less and less or at least minimal government in our lives. Now though, that we have an identifiable problem that we as individuals, can’t solve, we want the beuocracy (sp) to step in and take over. Where we draw the line at too much or too little government involvement is a difficult question and one we should think deeply about before condoning or condemning government. What say you, Rock Chuck?

By federal law, navigable rivers are thoroughfares. Historical travel routes besides. If not for that, adjacent land owners would own the river that crosses or abuts their land. The Bureau of Reclamation manages the dams the Idaho power or the irrigation companies don't, and therefore have a stake in keeping the invasive mussels out - as does the State of Idaho. It's not like the river is this wild unmanaged resource.

Your view on the road analogy doesn't fly either, since many of the routes existed long before they were paved or managed in any way.