London Free Press:
http://lfpress.ca/newsstand/CityandRegion/2008/03/20/pf-5056976.html
Invading species still a threat
Experts say zebra mussels, pictured at right, remain a threat to Great Lakes waterways, along with other foreign species.
By RANDY RICHMOND, SUN MEDIA
On the eve of the shipping season's opening and the 20th anniversary of the zebra mussel's arrival, environmentalists are warning little has been done to stop invading species from destroying our waterways.
"When we failed to stop the zebra mussel, we also failed to close the door it came through," Jennifer Nalbone of Great Lakes United, a coalition of dozens of environmental groups and government agencies, said yesterday.
"We never learned. Today, our two federal governments are as good as inviting another catastrophe to its shores."
U.S. and Canadian conservation groups yesterday called on their federal governments to:
- Create tough standards for the ballast water discharged from overseas ships.
- Promote and approve new technology to treat ballast water, the main source of aquatic invasive species.
Several conservation groups held a conference call with media yesterday to issue their warning, before the March 22 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway.
"Each year the Seaway opens without adequate protection, we risk another such invasion," Nalbone said.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates there are more than 180 aquatic invasive species in the Great Lakes, with 40 per cent arriving since the Seaway opened in 1959 at a rate of one new invader every 28 weeks.
Ocean going ships must empty their ballast tanks and flush them with saltwater before entering the Seaway.
Research has shown that method is "highly effective" in killing most invasive aquatic species, says the Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway system website.
The Seaway's specialist overseeing ballast treatment could not be reached for comment yesterday.
Saltwater flushing is better than nothing, but does not destroy all species, conservationists said yesterday.
"We desperately need to prevent through legislation ships from bringing in other invasive species," said Gerald Mackie, a scientist with the University of Guelph who identified the first zebra mussel in North America in June 1988.
At a conference in London three months after the discovery, scientists predicted the zebra mussel would spread rapidly, clogging intake pipes, affecting sports fishing and altering the ecology of the lakes.
"Our predictions were pretty much bang on," except the mussels spread even faster than expected, Mackie said.
The mussels have also fouled beaches, led to botulism outbreaks and corresponding fish and bird die-offs, affected the odour and taste of drinking water, and damaged recreational boating and fishing, environmentalists say.
Zebra mussels and their close cousin, the quagga mussel, have destroyed large proportions -- in Lake Michigan 90 per cent -- of the freshwater shrimp at the base of the aquatic food chain, said Andy Buchsbaum, regional director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office.
The financial losses and costs associated with battling zebra mussels the past 20 years in North America are estimated in the billions.
There are several other invaders at the door, including the False Dark mussel, equally as destructive as the zebra mussel, spreading from Florida, Mackie said.
"Expect it soon," Mackie said.
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Distributed without profit to ESA Great Lakes District members who have expressed an interest in receiving aquatic invasive species information for research and educational purposes.
