Zebra Mussels At Taneycomo

[Luke]

PHW - True they do a great job filtering, but fishing for trout in Taney will get a lot harder or I should say the catching will. Those little Zebra Mussels have sharp edges that will slice thin tippet quicker than you can say "Fish on!" Beaches will also suffer as those same shells will cut right through human skin as well. This could be an inconvenience or a full fledged catastrophe, only time will tell.

[Project Healing Waters]

PHW - True they do a great job filtering, but fishing for trout in Taney will get a lot harder or I should say the catching will. Those little Zebra Mussels have sharp edges that will slice thin tippet quicker than you can say "Fish on!" Beaches will also suffer as those same shells will cut right through human skin as well. This could be an inconvenience or a full fledged catastrophe, only time will tell.

I've never met a mussel that wasn't as you describe. Zebra Mussels, from what I've read, inhabit typical mussel habitat...where other mussels have historically been. The only negative impact to NATURE that I have ever read about Zebra Mussels is that they out-compete OTHER mussels, reducing their numbers, and waterfowl eat them, becoming toxic because the Zebra Mussel is such a spectacular filter that they are highly toxic...mostly heavy metals.

[Luke]

PHW - True, but when they are out-competing other mussels they are doing it with numbers. A year after they were introduced in Lake Erie, there were areas that had populations of 35,000 zebra mussels per square yard. There are beaches with windrows of rotting zebra mussels a foot deep. In some streams in that area, the zebra mussels completely cover the bottom of the stream. I don't see this as being helpful or a good thing.

[Aeronikl]

I agree with Luke that Zebra mussels are a serious pest, not to be taken lightly.

Any statement that they helped clean up Lake Erie is so wrong that it is laughable. As someone who lived along the south shore of Lake Erie in the 1950's through the '80's, with a background in chemistry and waste treatment, I know what caused the pollution and the reported "death" of the lake, and what was responsible for the clean up....and it was not the Zebra mussels. Areas of the lake that are "super clear" in the shallow western basin of the lake are now wastelands, with the bottom covered with Zebra mussels, where nothing else lives. FYI, these areas have always been the nursery for the young walleye pike as well as a world class small mouth fishery.

As for the "burning" stories...they are only that. There was oneincident where wooden ties on a railway bridge over the Cuyahoga River, near downtown Cleveland were set on fire by vandals. Burning pieces falling into trash along the bank started a fire along the shore. With poor land access, a tug/fire boat was used to fight the fire. The photos and reports that followed in the national media (read, New York city) about the "river that burns" in Cleveland. All of it was BS. The Cuyahoga River was no worse than any other river I studied in the industrial cities at that time.

Lake Erie had no chance of ever being clean again until pollution and discharge standards were in place long enough for the water sources "upstream" - namely Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. Being the smallest and 4th in line, and considering the impact of cities like Detroit and Windsor and the fact that the St. Lawrence Seaway controlled the natural flows, it took years for the lake to return to the condition it is today. It was a wonderful fishery when I was a boy, and with better regulations on commercial and sports fisherman and continued improvement in water quality throughout the Great Lakes Basin, it is even better today, despite the loss (extinction) of the Blue Pike...and in spite of the Zebra mussel.

With all the problems with these mussels in the Great Lakes, most people forgot the original invasive species up there after the seaway was completed....the lamphrey. Millions of dollars are spent every year in efforts to keep them under control, but at least they have been successful. All of the millions spent yearly on Zebra mussels is just to clean up boats, structures and other equipment.

Oh, one final note. A local golf course here in Oklahoma gets raw water for irrigation from Lake Oologah, a main water supply for many cities and towns. Since it has not been chlorinated or treated in any other way prior to pumping it into the supply line, the Zebra mussels have invaded the system and clogged most of the irrigation piping and all of the sprinkler heads. A large filtration system had to be installed to remove them, and lines and heads are being replaced. Just another idea of where they can end up.

"Zebra Mussels...coming soon to a town near you."

[Project Healing Waters]

PHW - True, but when they are out-competing other mussels they are doing it with numbers. A year after they were introduced in Lake Erie, there were areas that had populations of 35,000 zebra mussels per square yard. There are beaches with windrows of rotting zebra mussels a foot deep. In some streams in that area, the zebra mussels completely cover the bottom of the stream. I don't see this as being helpful or a good thing.

I can't really say. In theory, it doesn't bother me to have to replace my felt soles a bit more often for significantly cleaner water. But time will tell.

I agree with Luke that Zebra mussels are a serious pest, not to be taken lightly.

Any statement that they helped clean up Lake Erie is so wrong that it is laughable. As someone who lived along the south shore of Lake Erie in the 1950's through the '80's, with a background in chemistry and waste treatment, I know what caused the pollution and the reported "death" of the lake, and what was responsible for the clean up....and it was not the Zebra mussels. Areas of the lake that are "super clear" in the shallow western basin of the lake are now wastelands, with the bottom covered with Zebra mussels, where nothing else lives. FYI, these areas have always been the nursery for the young walleye pike as well as a world class small mouth fishery.

As for the "burning" stories...they are only that. There was oneincident where wooden ties on a railway bridge over the Cuyahoga River, near downtown Cleveland were set on fire by vandals. Burning pieces falling into trash along the bank started a fire along the shore. With poor land access, a tug/fire boat was used to fight the fire. The photos and reports that followed in the national media (read, New York city) about the "river that burns" in Cleveland. All of it was BS. The Cuyahoga River was no worse than any other river I studied in the industrial cities at that time.

Lake Erie had no chance of ever being clean again until pollution and discharge standards were in place long enough for the water sources "upstream" - namely Lakes Superior, Michigan and Huron. Being the smallest and 4th in line, and considering the impact of cities like Detroit and Windsor and the fact that the St. Lawrence Seaway controlled the natural flows, it took years for the lake to return to the condition it is today. It was a wonderful fishery when I was a boy, and with better regulations on commercial and sports fisherman and continued improvement in water quality throughout the Great Lakes Basin, it is even better today, despite the loss (extinction) of the Blue Pike...and in spite of the Zebra mussel.

With all the problems with these mussels in the Great Lakes, most people forgot the original invasive species up there after the seaway was completed....the lamphrey. Millions of dollars are spent every year in efforts to keep them under control, but at least they have been successful. All of the millions spent yearly on Zebra mussels is just to clean up boats, structures and other equipment.

Oh, one final note. A local golf course here in Oklahoma gets raw water for irrigation from Lake Oologah, a main water supply for many cities and towns. Since it has not been chlorinated or treated in any other way prior to pumping it into the supply line, the Zebra mussels have invaded the system and clogged most of the irrigation piping and all of the sprinkler heads. A large filtration system had to be installed to remove them, and lines and heads are being replaced. Just another idea of where they can end up.

"Zebra Mussels...coming soon to a town near you."

A golf course sprinkler system? You really want us to choose a golf course sprinkler system over clean water?

[WebFreeman]

Aeronikl: Good stuff. Thanks for info.

[WebFreeman]

I can't really say. In theory, it doesn't bother me to have to replace my felt soles a bit more often for significantly cleaner water. But time will tell.

A golf course sprinkler system? You really want us to choose a golf course sprinkler system over clean water?

I think the point is there is a bigger impact than your felt soles. Think what would happen if/when Stockton becomes infested with the pipeline to Springfield. Aeronikl's point is there will be impacts we're not even aware of. College of the Ozarks and the City of Branson both have intakes near the areas we like to fish (the real Taney squid.) Also, how's this going to impact the invertebrate populations when the entire bottom is covered? How will it impact lake levels when Empire has to lower lakes levels to service Powersite Dam?

[davekeim]

Just hope we don't get any of these! Brain eaters!

http://www.ksdk.com/news/world/us_world_ar...?storyid=130668

Signed,

Cardiac

[Quillback]

One negative consequence I read today is that the Pot Shoals net pen, located on Bull Shoals lake, which raised 156,000 Rainbows, 77,000 Cutthroat and 105,000 channel catfish last year, will not be able to stock fish in other waters as there is a danger of transporting Zebra larvae with the fish. The hatchery folks were scratching their heads trying to figure out what to do, maybe they'll come up with a solution.

[Wayne SW/MO]

There is a small area below Powersite that emerged last Fall as a line cutter. makes you wonder?