Steps to Actively Prevent the Spread of AIS

/ Published in aquatic invasive species, eurasian watermilfoil
Ice Fishing
When winter arrives and lakes freeze over, the true test of your love of fishing becomes apparent.  Winter sportsmen are out in their shanties, drilling holes in the ice in the hopes of reeling in the “big one.”  Those of us who live in areas of frozen lakes know that fish tales do not end

Spreading the Invaders

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Discharging Ballast Water on Cargo Ship
According to a Fish and Wildlife study, almost 80 percent of non-native species found on the West Coast were first sighted in California. You might have heard about ballast water. Cargo ships fill their holds with seawater to stay balanced, but that water can also carry invasive species. Since 1999, ships have been required to

Innovative Weaponry in the Fight Against AIS

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Underwater robot is targeting the stunning but dangerous lionfish.
In the fight against alien animals that invade and overrun native species, the weird and the wired sometime win. Invasive species are plants and animals that thrive in areas where they don’t naturally live, usually brought there by humans, either accidentally or intentionally. Sometimes, with no natural predators, they multiply and take over, crowding out

Can Invasive Aquatic Plants Save the Florida Manatee?

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The Florida Manatee is a Grazing Animal
Florida’s tropical waters are home to a great diversity of life, but perhaps the most endearing is the Manatee.  The manatee is a grazing animal and spends between six and eight hours a day feeding on seagrasses and other freshwater vegetation.  The manatee actually plays an important role in controlling the aquatic plant growth in

Keeping Asian Carp out of Lake Michigan

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Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal
Asian carp were imported from China to the U.S. in the 1970s to remove algae from catfish farms and wastewater treatment ponds. Somehow they escaped and migrated north through the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. The species spawn in rivers and feed on phytoplankton, disrupting the food chain for younger fish. The voracious eaters can weigh

10 Reasons to Care about Aquatic Invasive Species

/ Published in aquatic invasive species, hydrilla, water quality
Aquatic Weeds Clogging Irrigation Canal
Written by Madeline Seveland, Education Coordinator with Carver County Water Management Invasive Species have been steadily gaining more interest with lawmakers, interest groups and the public since the introduction of zebra mussels into Lake Minnetonka and the threat of Asian carp in the Mississippi River. Here are the top ten reasons you should care about

Fish Population Struggling after Chemical Treatments

/ Published in Uncategorized
200-Acre Lake Pinehurst
Hydrilla.  The word alone sends shivers down the spines of anyone living, associated, or recreates on waterways.  It sends people into panic mode, as it should.  Hydrilla is an aquatic invasive species that has slowly been invading waters of the United States since being introduced in Florida in the 1960’s.  Hydrilla in one of the

The Nuisance Zebra Mussels

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Invasive Zebra Mussels
We focus a lot on aquatic invasive plants, just because that is our business – but there is another invasive species that certainly deserves some print on our blog.  It is partically because of them that weed harvesters are needed. Zebra mussels, a freshwater aquatic nuisance, which grow to about the size of a dime