LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — Officials from Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife are staying vigilant to make sure Washington’s lakes and rivers stay clean and healthy.
In early January, two tugboats traveling from Lake Michigan stopped at the Spokane Watercraft Inspection Station in Liberty Lake.
The boats were infested with zebra and quagga mussels.
Staff pulled 21 gallons of the invasive mussels off just one of the boats.
“It was, as far as our training goes, the worst case scenario that we could see,” said Derek DeHaus, Natural Resource Technician with WDFW.
Had the boats not been inspected, all of those mussels would have been introduced into Washington’s waterways.
Invasive species, like zebra and quagga mussels, reproduce quickly and are a real threat to our state’s environment, economy, recreation, health and infrastructure.
“A single mussel can produce over 1 million eggs per year,” WDFW’s Justin Bush said. “In the last five years, we’ve intercepted 127 invasive mussel-invested boats. If just one made it to our waters, we would be addressing the consequences of invasive species introduction today.”
Even though it’s winter, WDFW is see a steady stream of boats into the state, because it’s cheaper to purchase boats in colder months.
The department also said anyone with a boat or watercraft larger than an innertube should make sure to clean and dry the boat when moving it.
They also remind boat owners that the law requires them to stop at check stations.
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