The province is once again launching a public awareness campaign in its fight against zebra mussels.
The invasive species are becoming a growing concern in Manitoba and have already infested three bodies of water.
On Thursday morning, the province is launching a new aquatic invasive species campaign in hopes of stopping the species from spreading even further.
READ MORE: ‘Lake Winnipeg is not dead’: expert on zebra mussels
Zebra mussels were first found in Manitoba in 2013. By the fall of 2015, boaters on Lake Winnipeg had found them clinging to their motors and hulls.
“They attach to docks, boats, inlets… and they can create a lot of havoc to the fish population and the natural habitat of lakes,” Sustainable Development Minister, Cathy Cox said.
The mussels are already in the Red River, Lake Winnipeg and Cedar Lake.
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In 2016, the province set up five decontamination units for people to wash zebra mussels off their boats.
Provincial officials checked thousand of boats at checkstops, but left people with warnings instead of fines.
WATCH: How zebra mussels could cause province-wide power outages
About zebra mussels
Zebra mussels were first found in Manitoba in 2013. By the fall of 2015, boaters on Lake Winnipeg had found them clinging to their motors and hulls.
The species first arrived in Canada in 1986 and were found in a harbour in Lake Erie, most likely transported from Europe via transatlantic shipping, according to the Lake Winnipeg Foundation.
By 1991, zebra mussels began to spread to smaller inland lakes in Ontario and the eastern United States. They are currently found in more than 750 lakes in North America.
Click here to see a timelapse of the spread of zebra mussels across North America, including Lake Winnipeg.
With files from 680 CJOB
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