Aquatic invasive species are impacting our lives. In case you hadn't noticed, Phil Moy, fisheries and non-indigenous species specialist at the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant, has a way of making the point.
As first presenter Saturday in Milwaukee at "Knocking at the Gates: An Aquatic Invasive Species Workshop," Moy showed a video clip of researchers standing on the bow of a boat on the Illinois River.
Dozens of silver carp, an invasive species that now dominates much of the river, jump clear of the water, sailing through the air like 20-pound fleshy missiles. As the boat moves forward, one carp catapults directly into one unlucky researcher, striking him just below the belt.
"Now that's an impact," said Moy, playing the clip forward and back to heighten the effect.
More often, however, the invasive species hit us in the pocketbook and, perhaps worse, knock out native species and degrade ecosystems.
While preventing the spread of exotic species may seem overwhelming - Moy showed a map that looked as though it had been sprayed with silly string but was actually the path of a single ship on its international rounds over the course of several months, including a stop in Wisconsin - there is still much that can be done by individuals.
For example, zebra mussels, an exotic likely brought to North America in the ballast water of an ocean-going ship, are found in 75 inland lakes in Wisconsin. But the state has 15,000 lakes. And the rate of spread of the mussels is pretty much up to us.
"We have a lot left to protect out there," said Moy, imploring boaters to follow "clean boat" procedures that greatly help prevent transferring plants and animals from one lake to the next. "This is an area that really comes down to personal responsibility."
About 200 people attended the workshop to hear a panel of experts present the latest information on aquatic invasive species. The event was sponsored by the Wisconsin Association of Lakes, Wisconsin Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, Wind Lake Management District, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin Extension and Illinois Lake Management Association.
Two prevailing themes carried the day: Prevention is far better and less costly than treatment, and the next invasion to guard against is a plant called hydrilla.
"You might as well call it Godzilla," said Doug Keller, AIS coordinator for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. "It's the next monster that you might have to fight."
A native of Africa, hydrilla is a fast-growing plant that develops extremely thick mats of vegetation at the surface, causing problems to swimmers, boaters and anglers. It can grow so densely that it crowds out other plants and even clogs canals and restricts water flow.
Hydrilla is found commonly in the south and southeast, especially Florida. But it is making its way around the east and into the Midwest.
Keller is the midst of a battle to eradicate hydrilla on Lake Manitou, a popular bass fishing lake in Indiana. The lake has been quarantined (the entry points have been padlocked and no boats are allowed to enter or leave the lake) and the water is being treated with chemicals to kill the plant. The treatment costs about $500,000 a year, said Keller.
"No one has extra money sitting around in a war chest, waiting for the next monster," said Keller. "It's far better to educate the public and get them to help you keep these things from ever entering."
Michael Netherland, a researcher with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Gainesville, Fla., said hydrilla is worth keeping out.
"It's been described as the perfect weed," said Netherland. "It makes it very difficult on every thing else around."
Many Wisconsinites are familiar with Eurasian water milfoil, an aquatic scourge that arrived in our lakes in the last two decades. Netherland said hydrilla is many times worse.
"It costs the state of Florida $21 million a year to combat hydrilla," said Netherland. "And there is no end in sight."
Unfortunately, hydrilla was found last year in Wisconsin. But it was identified only in a small, man-made pond in Marinette County that was then extensively treated by local and state authorities. The plant arrived not in ballast water or via some man-made canal but by overnight delivery in a shipment of aquarium plants.
Back to the message of personal responsibility.
Laura Herman, coordinator of the University of Wisconsin Extension Citizen Lake Monitoring Network, said the role of the public will be huge in early detection of hydrilla and exotics.
"Education is the key," said Herman. "What to do, what not to do. And how to identify the native plants and find something that might not belong."
Like a neighborhood watch program for our lakes. Sounds like a great idea.Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
