Last year, it was environmental DNA detected in Clear Lake at Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba. This year, it’s live zebra mussels.
Dameon Wall, the park’s external relations manger, said the discovery was made this month at Boat Cove, despite the implementation of boating protocols at the lake over the summer that prohibited boaters from taking their vessels to other bodies of water and required them pass inspections and obtain tags to use Clear Lake.
“There’s a lot of sad people here today, both at Parks Canada and around us,” Wall said. “I can confirm that more than one zebra mussel was taken out of the lake. But if you were to show up here today at that Clear Lake and Wasagaming, you would not see them caked on to things like you do see in other locations.”
Concerned and frustrated by the news, Scott Higgins, a research scientist at the IISD Experimental Lakes Area, applauded the boating rules but said he suspects they came in a little too late.
“I think this is a wake-up call,” he said. “I think we all knew that there was a really high risk of zebra mussels getting out of Lake Winnipeg and the Red River into other jurisdictions, and now it’s happened.”
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Zebra mussels in Manitoba were first discovered in Lake Winnipeg 10 years ago. From there, they spread west to Lake Manitoba and north to the Nelson River, clogging infrastructure and starving out native species.
Now that they’re in Clear Lake, there is concern for lakes both inside and outside Riding Mountain park.
“As far as we know, Clear Lake is now the most western lake in Canada to be invaded with zebra mussels, and we don’t want them to spread westward,” Higgins said, adding it’s even more important now that Parks Canada continue its stringent boating protocols to contain the spread.
He said water bodies with higher calcium make it harder for the mussels to thrive. “However, Clear Lake has calcium levels that are the optimal range for zebra mussels, so that’s really concerning. On the flip side, however, unlike Lake Winnipeg, Clear Lake has very low nutrient concentrations and low amounts of algae. Algae is food for zebra mussels.”
Given the limited habitat, Higgins said he is not sure how big the populations will get and said only time will tell. “I think now is a good time to re-evaluate strategy.”
Despite being concerned, Wall said next steps won’t be decided on until governments, Indigenous leadership and scientists have been consulted.
“It’s incumbent upon us all to do our best to minimize the spread,” he said.
While uncertain as to what next year’s boating season will look like, Wall said “we are looking forward to a season where visitors return. It just may look a little different, but we haven’t made those decisions yet.”
Global News reached out to the province to ask about its preventative measures and response to invasive species. The interview request was declined.
Going forward, Higgins said education and outreach will be paramount along with more watercraft cleaning and inspection stations.
— with files from Global’s Rosanna Hempel
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