Re: [Paddlewise] Kayaking with Zebra Mussels

Chuck Holst wrote:
> Zebra mussels have invaded some of the waters in Minnesota, and the
> Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is requesting that all watercraft
> being moved from one body of water to another be thoroughly cleaned. These
> freshwater mussels are an alien species from Eurasia that has no natural
> enemies in North America. They outcompete native species for food, grow
> fast, clog intake pipes, and cut swimmers' feet. They filter food out of
> water so efficiently that the clarity of the water column improves
> noticeably, but this in turn promotes weed growth. In short, they are a
> significant nuisance to human beings and a threat to native ecologies.
> 
>  
> 
> The DNR recommends cleaning hulls, bilges, live wells, and motors of boats
> being moved from one lake to another using hot water or even steam cleaning.
> One recommended method is to take the boat through a car wash. A big problem
> is that though adult zebra mussels are fairly easily seen, the free-swimming
> larvae are not.  So, does anyone have any advice on cleaning kayaks of zebra
> mussels? I am particularly concerned about built-in bilge pumps. There being
> no easy way to drain our built-in foot-operated pumps, I am concerned about
> transporting zebra mussel larvae inside them. I don't even know whether the
> inside of a built-in pump ever dries out during storage.
> 
>  
> 
> Oh, the DNR also recommends drying your boat at least five days before
> putting it in another body of water, though adult zebra mussels have been
> observed in the lab to survive ten days out of water.
> 
>  
> 
> Chuck Holst

I'm afraid that these measures are mostly for appearances. The spread 
of zebra mussels and various types of freshwater weeds is pretty much 
inevitable. Unless someone comes up with an easy, foolproof way to 
clean your boat.

Taking your boat through a car wash? Not in my part of the world: they 
won't allow them. And, even if they did, the local car washes don't 
use water hot enough to kill anything. And I doubt the soaps they use 
would do much either.

I suppose you could wash your kayak in your yard with some kind of 
disinfectant wash, and run clean water through your bilge pump (making 
sure that the outflow water went onto a lawn or anywhere where it 
wasn't going into a storm drain or sewer.)

But I have serious doubts that anyone is going to thoroughly wash a 
sixteen foot fishing boat and outboard -- even if there was a cheap 
disinfectant available. Hell, we can't even get people to buy into a 
proper hand washing on a regular basis to slow down the spread of 
infectious diseases, like the swine flue that's currently making 
headlines.

I'd rather not spread invasive species, don't get me wrong. But one 
guy thoroughly cleaning his kayak -- compared to all those Seadoo and 
powerboat operators -- isn't going to really make much of a 
difference. You'll feel good about yourself; but I'm afraid that that 
will be about all.

Maybe some scientist will announce a cheap and easy method of killing 
adult and larval mussels that we can all use. A cup of laundry bleach 
in a bucket of water, for example, that is pretty much guaranteed to 
kill anything that it contacts. In the meantime, spending hours 
washing my boat with dish soap and cold water, if we don't know for 
sure that is going to make any difference, isn't going to happen.

For the record, I paddle regularly in the St. Lawrence river where the 
zebra mussels have taken a firm foothold, and also in various lakes 
and rivers in Ontario and Quebec where they have not (yet) been 
sighted. I try to rinse the boat out, but I can't even honestly say 
that I manage to do that every time.

-- 
   Darryl
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