2021-Aug-17
Small Scale Mussel Removal Efforts in Lake Michigan Are Yielding Positive Results
Over the past three decades invasive mussels have established themselves in the Great Lakes disrupting the ecosystem and causing billions of dollars in damages to property and infrastructure. With an estimated 300 trillion quagga mussels blanketing Lake Michigan alone, eradication seems impossible but scientists are seeing promise in some small scale solutions that may eventually may be able to restore sensitive areas like fish spawning sites.
Scientists in Lake Michigan are actively studying the effects of copper compounds, genetic biocontrol and even tarping as methods to control mussel populations. One of the more encouraging results has come from small scale manual removal. In 2016 divers scraped nearly 1 million mussels from an area the size of a studio apartment. Scientists expected the mussels to re-blanket the rocks after a year or two, but five years later thanks to the appetite of the round goby, the rocks are still largely mussel free. Read more about the on-going work here.
