It was just a matter of time, but still not a good thing.

Quagga mussels found under the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls. This is going to cost beaucoup bucks for farmers trying to keep irrigation water flowing, sprinklers running and pivots turning. Ditto for the fish farmers all around that stretch. The State is pretending they are going to do something about it, but that cat is out of the bag, fellas.


https://www.eastidahonews.com/2023/...quagga-mussel-larvae-in-the-snake-river/


TWIN FALLS — The Idaho State Department of Agriculture confirmed Monday the presence of quagga mussel larvae in the Centennial Waterfront Park area of the Snake River. Multiple samples of quagga mussel at larval life stages have been found in the Twin Falls area by ISDA’s early detection monitoring program.

The findings mark the first time a rapid response plan has been put into action for quagga mussels in Idaho. ISDA is implementing a rapid response plan that includes notifying impacted entities, implementing containment measures, conducting delimiting surveys and evaluating for potential treatment options.

“These invasive pests will clog pipes that deliver water for drinking, energy, agriculture, and recreation,” Governor Little said. “This is a very high priority for Idaho and for me, given the gravity of the risk. If we are not successful, an unchecked spread – which we are doing all we can to stop – has the potential to cost Idaho hundreds of millions of actual and indirect costs. Thankfully, we caught the mussels early on and have already started a robust response to get these mussels OUT of our waters. We need everyone to support these efforts.”

ISDA is asking for the public’s cooperation in staying out of the water in the Centennial Waterfront Park area, in an effort to contain the mussel populations. ISDA staff and boats will be in the water performing delimiting surveys to determine the physical range of the impacted area. Boat ramps and public access to the water are closed temporarily.

That sucks.

It sure does suck.

When I had a place in Bayview and traveled to other waters the State had aggressive check stations all over. The big weakness was they were only open during business hours.

I sure hate to see this. I love the State and it's waters.

When you are walking on a bed that’s 4 inches thick on the Huron River, it really brings it home just how screwed we are here in the USA…

IIRC That was 2009ish.

I had to call some friends this evening and tell them about that. They'd planned to go fishing there in the morning. The bass and perch are biting now. They aren't happy about it.

Is there any natural way to control them some? I know shellcrackers (red ear sunfish) are touted as somewhat effective, but i suspect we’re too cold for them to reproduce naturally, and last time I asked the state wouldn’t let me have them.

They are not mentioning that they are praying they really did catch it early on.

I'm not much of a betting man, but having dealt with them in the Colorado River, I've got a $20 says the mussels are already way more established than they believe.

And, if they found the larvae in the river at Centennial Park, I'm pretty sure they're aways downstream now and might have already settled and attached.

Interesting thing there Dutch. When I was raising the razorback suckers the mussels were found in head and tailboxes but not in the rearing areas. Not sure what kind of native suckers in the Snake up that way, but they may help some. Problem is, the mussels are fantastically productive.

Totally fed up with invasive species. We have over 3,800 types here in Floriduh and yet we keep accepting delivery of more. Totally wrecked this state.

3,800? And still no chukar, huns or pheasants to speak of!

Do we have suckers! Five native species in the state. Chubs, too. I know the Bear Lake Chub of our area will eat some crustaceans. Maybe there was a reason for them after all!

I guess we’ll find out in short order if the suckers and chubs keep the mussels down to a dull roar.

We have lots of out of staters running boats in Idaho. Most likely they came in stuck to a boat. There are inspection stations here and there to look for them but not on all highways and they certainly can't check every boat that crosses the state line. It's more of an honor system that's pretty much ignored.

This is all the same thing that was said about zebra mussels when they first showed up in the St Lawrence River. Everybody hit the panic button. Same with gobies. As it turned out, the ecosystem and the native species adapted to the newcomers and life went on.

Initially, you saw huge beds of zebra mussels, now, not so much. They tell me the perch eat them, I don’t know, but the perch fishing seems to have improved from what I hear. Also, water clarity is way up, mitigates the effects of fertilizer runoff, light gets deeper, more bottom of the food chain in deeper water, better for the deep water species. Walleye fishing is better than ever.

Time will tell. Nothing ever remains the same.

I'm pretty diligent about stopping at watercraft check points. Got stopped one time after passing a checkpoint in Idaho. Was coming off the Snake or the Owyhee. Can't recall. Missed the check point and stopped at a gas station next door. State guy pulled up and told us we missed it. Went back and got everything looked over. All good.


Have been to a few that weren't manned. Pull up and nobody's there. <shrug>

Thats cool.


Zebras and Quaggas are probably signs that things are WAY out of whack....not the other way around.

I have shot chukar in N Florida and S Georgia. One of my new neighbors is a Hun, but I’ve given no thought to shooting her. Lot of peasants in S Floriduh as I recall.

It was just a matter of time not if, sadly Asian carp are in the future

Quagga mussel

The quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis, also known as Dreissena bugensis or Dreissena rostriformis bugensis) is a species (or subspecies) of freshwater mussel, an aquatic bivalve mollusk in the family Dreissenidae. It has an average lifespan of 3 to 5 years.[3]

The species is indigenous to the Dnipro River drainage of Ukraine, and is named after the quagga, an extinct subspecies of African zebra, possibly because, like the quagga, its stripes fade out towards the ventral side.

The invasive quagga mussel is currently of major concern as it spreads in the rivers and lakes of Europe and also in the Great Lakes of North America where it was brought to by overseas shippers that use the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagga_mussel

Ukraine is a bigger PITA than we knew, eh?

No argument with any of that, but there remains the fact that for those of us that use water in pipes and such, quaggas are an infestation best avoided.

Given the huge to-do about the phosphorous (and nitrogen) level in the Mid-Snake, an additional bivalve to consume plankton would be likely move the river to a more natural, lower nutrient level condition. Unlike the Great Lakes, this is a river, so the supply of nutrients never stops, which means it’s unlikely that equilibrium conditions of historical low nutrient levels would be reached.

At least they will filter the water.

Zebra mussels didn’t do any favors for Lake Hurons smelt or salmon fishing.

I think anyone who transports an infected boat needs to pay a fat fine. Better yet, foreign boats not allowed in without a home state inspection certificate and sealed against use in transit.

Why not put the TSA on duty at the boat ramps, 24/7/365.....with scrapers in hand?

Stopped to get an annual mussel check sticker for Clear Lake. Dude didn't even come outside to inspect my boat. Pay the fee here's your sticker.

Like CWD, Asian (different versions) Carp, it is only a matter of time til they come to you!

Well good thing, as the suckers likely will help to keep the populations down, if they really do get established. The chubs? If they're eating crustaceans they're not eating mussels

One thing is sure, if established there will be effects. What they are remains to be seen, and beneficial or not will depend on the use of the resource as you said. Irrigators, power plants operators, muni water systems, etc will all have to take measures to control them in their infrastructure.

The Snake is not a natural system anymore anyway. So many other things have been introduced, maybe one more might not hurt much.

We have Elodea established now in some waters in Alaska. That's bad enough! Clogs the Manley slough, so I'm careful to mitigate before putting in on Kenai water after visiting there. Not the only place it's found though, and float planes abound.

Coming to a place near everyone, eventually.

Like pike....

That stuff is our revenge for all the introduced species in the US. It's native to the US and has somehow been introduced in Europe, Australia, Africa, and New Zealand. It's become a major menace to them.

And "outsiders"?

Watched a nature type program on the Balkans last night with the wife.

Apparently the native European mink is being replaced by North American mink....................escaped from fur ranches.

If they don't care about the invasive ones at the Southern Border wrecking our country, why would they care about a few more animals?

Some of the “invasive species” brouhaha makes me scratch my head, though. For example, they just classified
Perca fluviatilis as “deleterious wildlife”, the most strictly controlled classification for wildlife.

It’s the European version of our yellow perch (Perca flavescens). It has circumpolar distribution, much like elk, wolves, brown bears. You can’t tell the two species apart, short of a DNA test. Of course, I grew up fishing for the Euro version, and a 3 lb fish was not unheard of. But, noooo, can’t have any of that over here! There’s a couple of different DNA markers somewhere!

I gotta confess, when I read the title my first thought was cool! And where in S.Africa is the Snake River?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quagga