Don’t Move A Mussel: Public Forum April 4

 By Kendra Bobowick

Creating public awareness “is all we really can do at this time” regarding the presence of invasive zebra mussels in the local lakes, said Lake Zoar Authority Chairman Robert Barnes.

A public forum to discuss zebra mussels is scheduled for Monday, April 4, at 7 pm, in the Southbury Town Hall. The mussels are “coming down from Lillinonah and the Housatonic River,” said Mr Barnes, and their presence in Lake Zoar has also been confirmed.

Looking ahead to April’s forum — the first of its kind, he said, “[Zebra mussels] are becoming a bigger problem.” Authority members seek help developing signage and a public education campaign regarding the invasive mussel.

Candlewood Lake Authority Executive Director Larry Marsicano said that lake owner and power company FirstLight Power staff discovered the mussels last fall. The species has been in the state since the late 1990s, he said.

“They get moved around” on boats, for one, and they “advance quickly,” he said. Like Mr Barnes, Mr Marsicano would like to see all the lake authorities work together to monitor the mussels, which have not yet been sighted in Candlewood.

“The problem is if they can get established in our lakes, it can impair the ecosystem,” he said. A release from Mr Barnes states, “Tests have detected the onset of the mussels in Zoar and Lillinonah and divers have been scouring Candlewood to determine if there is a presence. One fingernail-sized mussel is capable of producing up to one million eggs over a single season.”

Aside from displacing native species, potentially clogging boating equipments and pipes or drains, they are sharp and can cut your feet, Mr Marsicano said. The mussels also filter algae from the water, “which increases the water clarity, but raises habitat for milfoil.” The invasive aquatic weed will benefit from the increased sunlight that reaches into the lake, he explained.

Mr Marsicano is preparing information for forum participants that includes recommendations to limit the spread of zebra mussels. Visit CandlewoodLakeAuthority.org to find his report, which should be completed in coming days.

 Zebra mussels are also believed to be the source of deadly avian botulism that has killed tens of thousands of birds in the Great Lakes since the late 1990s, according to Mr Barnes’s information.

Find links to current zebra mussel information at CandleWoodLakeAuthority.org.

An additional zebra mussel information session will take place on April 6 at the Western Connecticut State University science building at 7 pm.

Invasive Investigators

The Department of Environmental Protection and the Candlewood Lake Authority (CLA) seek volunteers to help stop the spread of zebra mussels. Making an appeal for “invasive investigators” is a flyer describing the program. Volunteers will spend two and a half hours training and visit local boat launches. DEP staff will teach inspections and data collection.

Volunteers will interact with boaters at the launches, alert them to the invasives in the water, offer educational information, and conduct voluntary inspections.

Scheduling for volunteers will be determined on availability.

The first training session is Saturday, April 9, from 9:30 am until noon, at the New Milford Police Department, located at 49 Poplar Street (Route 202) in New Milford. For more information or to volunteer call the CLA at 860-354-6928 or e-mail clainfo@earthlink.net.