Alberta prides itself on being rat-free. Now, the province is also stepping up efforts to keep destructive zebra mussels and other invasive aquatic species out of the province’s lakes, rivers and other waterways.
Zebra mussels are native to the Black Sea and other waterways of eastern Europe and were first discovered in the Great Lakes in 1986, likely making their way to North American in the ballast water of ships.
Since then they’ve spread to many areas of Ontario, Manitoba and the United States — mostly through the overland transport of boats and other watercraft from one body of water to another — and their microscopic larvae can be invisible to the naked eye.
Once established, they are nearly impossible to eradicate — without spending many millions of dollars — and they can spread rapidly, attaching themselves to things like water pipes and irrigation infrastructure.
They’re also voracious feeders, filtering out plankton and other small organisms and outcompeting other native species for food, leading to a decline in their population.
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Alberta’s Minister of Environment and Protected Areas, Rebecca Schulz, announced Friday that the Provincial Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force will be expanded this year, increasing the number of inspection stations that are usually set up along highways heading into Alberta from other provinces to 11, tripling the number of K-9 inspection teams and setting up more than a dozen dip tank decontamination systems.
Fines for people who fail to stop at an inspection station can be as high as $4,200, and $600 for failing to remove a drain plug from a watercraft.
Zebra mussels are “viewed as a contaminant and they are near impossible to get rid of it — without treating the water body with very costly and impactful chemicals that then essentially have to wipe out all of the other species in the ecosystem,” explained task force K-9 handler Cindy Sawchuck, as she demonstrated how her inspection dog, Hilo, can sniff out mussels so small that they can be almost invisible to human eyes.
The shells of dead mussels can also wash up on beaches and their sharp shells can make those beaches impossible to walk on or enjoy.
Last year, the province says a total of 13,408 inspections were completed — 15 of them were confirmed positive for mussels — and 13 per cent of boats didn’t have the drain plug removed.
Rebecca Schulz, Alberta’s minister of environment and protected areas, said the plan, which still needs to be approved when MLAs vote on next year’s provincial budget, will cost $5.4 million annually for the next three years, along with $2.1 million in new capital funding.
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