The Charles River Lakes District in Massachusetts is a popular destination for canoeists, kayakers and rowers, but the pollution from stormwater runoff resulted in an increase in nutrients resulting in the growth of water chestnut, Eurasian watermilfoil and fanwort which interfered with those activities.

The weed harvesters have will harvest for a few weeks in August before the water chestnuts drop their seeds and will start up again in the spring of 2014.

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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 either retain ballast water or discharge this water at least 200 nautical miles away from shore — and over 90 percent of them do.

But invasives remain a problem well beyond the ports. Researchers say recreational boating also plays a part. Small vessels can spread around species that have been introduced by cargo ships.

There’s another less-obvious way invasive species gets introduced —and it’s cost California millions of dollars.

After “Finding Nemo” was released, people started flushing fish and plants down the drain, or taking them to the ocean and dumping them in. It led to a pulse of invasion around the country.

A study from UC Davis found that aquariums contribute to a third of the world’s worst aquatic and invasive species.

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