Wednesday, October 21, 2015

AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES NEWS 10/20/15

AQUATIC INVASIVE SPECIES NEWS
10/20/15
DREISSENID MUSSELS

Manitoba: Zebra mussels are now present in Cedar Lake (10/15/15)<http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?item=36448&posted=2015-10-15>

Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship reports water sampling results show zebra mussels are now present in Cedar Lake. Water sampling results found a single larval zebra mussel, called a veliger, for the first time in a water sample collected from Cedar Lake.  Ongoing sampling is being conducted as part of the Coordinated Aquatic Monitoring program (CAMP), conducted by the Manitoba government and Manitoba Hydro. This finding strongly suggests that the overland movement of uncleaned watercraft or water-related equipment resulted in the appearance of a veliger because Cedar Lake has no direct connection to a waterway where zebra mussels have previously been found.

Related Stories: Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship reports fall monitoring results show zebra mussels are now present as far north as Matheson Island in the channel of Lake Winnipeg (10/8/15)  <http://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html?archive=&item=36376>  And  Lake Winnipeg is a lost cause due to zebra mussels: expert (10/8/15)<http://globalnews.ca/news/2266803/lake-winnipeg-is-a-lost-cause-due-to-zebra-mussels-expert/>


Zebra mussel population reaches record high in Iowa Great Lakes (10/11/15)<http://www.siouxlandmatters.com/news/local-news/zebra-mussel-population-reaches-record-high-in-iowa-grreat-lakes>

Since first appearing in the Iowa Great lakes area in 2012, Zebra mussel populations have reached a record high. The invasive species is disrupting the ecosystem and can cause serious damage to your boat. Fishery Biologist Mike Hawkins says he was expecting the Zebra mussel population in the Okoboji lake chain to rise, but not as much as it has…..[with video]


……….Biologists blame the plummet in prey fish on a number of factors, not the least of which is that the lake bottom is now smothered with quagga mussels, which hog the plankton that sustains the bottom of the food chain — and everything above it. The trawl survey was never designed to collect quagga mussels in its nets, but those nets are now so commonly cluttered with the mollusks introduced into the lake by overseas ships sailing up the St. Lawrence Seaway that the survey biologists estimate there are as many as five times more mussels in the lake, by weight, than prey fish……..


MN: Zebra mussels confirmed in Lake Ida in Becker County, Lake Sylvia in Stearns County (10/19/15) <http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2015/10/19/zebra-mussels-confirmed-in-lake-ida-in-becker-county-lake-sylvia-in-stearns-county/#more-17139>

The Department of Natural Resources has confirmed zebra mussels in northwestern Minnesota’s Lake Ida (Becker and Otter Tail counties), but alert DNR staff may have prevented a potentially broader infestation. Five zebra mussels were also confirmed in Lake Sylvia in Stearns County.  On Oct. 6, DNR fisheries staff spotted 10 to 15 dead zebra mussels on a trailer at the Detroit Lakes north public water access. The trailer belonged to a business that takes boating equipment in and out of lakes. It had been out of the water several weeks and had last been used on Lake Ida. DNR fisheries staff alerted the DNR aquatic invasive species staff and contacted a conservation officer, who issued the business a warning. The business then decontaminated the trailer……..

Related Story: Zebra mussels reported in Lake John and Bryant Lake (10/8/15)<http://news.dnr.state.mn.us/2015/10/08/zebra-mussels-reported-on-two-minnesota-lakes/> ………“There is a common misconception that zebra mussels ‘are everywhere’ and that their spread is inevitable. The reality is, zebra mussels have been confirmed in less than two percent of Minnesota lakes, and more Minnesotans than ever before know and follow invasive species laws,” Lund said. “People spread zebra mussels, and people can prevent the spread.” Before leaving a lake, Minnesota’s aquatic invasive species laws require boaters and anglers to:

•         Clean aquatic plants and animals from watercraft.
•         Drain all water by removing drain plugs and keeping plugs out while transporting watercraft.
•         Dispose of unwanted bait in the trash.

For more information on aquatic invasive species prevention and how to report a suspected infestation, visit the aquatic invasive species Web page<http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/invasives/aquatic/index.html>.



The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources is initiating pilot projects aimed at treating recently discovered, small infestations of zebra mussels on Minnesota lakes. The first pilot project is the treatment of Ruth Lake in Crow Wing County…..

Related Story: MN: Christmas Lake holds off zebra mussel spread (10/9/15)<http://www.startribune.com/christmas-lake-holds-off-zebra-mussel-spread/331855201/>

Report Calls For Regional Perimeter Defense Strategy To Combat Quagga, Zebra Mussels (10/16/15)<http://www.cbbulletin.com/435271.aspx>

The Pacific Northwest-- including Canada’s southwest provinces -- is the only area in the U.S. and Canada that hasn’t been invaded by quagga and zebra mussels, a species that already clogs water pipes and hydroelectric facilities in Midwestern states. Given the approximately $500 million annual price tag if the mussels, known as dreissenids, do find a foothold in the Pacific Northwest, a study commissioned by the [Pacific NorthWest Economic Region] says that the region should build a perimeter defense system and work together to make sure the mussels cannot find their way – mostly via personal watercraft – into Northwest waters…. [Editor’s Note/Correction: The study was commissioned by the Pacific NorthWest Economic Region<http://www.pnwer.org/invasive-species.html>, not the PSMFC as indicated incorrectly stated in the story]

BOAT INSPECTION/DECON NEWS
WY: Boaters are alerted they will be unable to register their boat in Wyoming during October (9/14/15)<https://wgfd.wyo.gov/News/No-watercraft-registration-during-October>
Boaters will still be able to purchase 2015 aquatic invasive species stickers during October if needed……


MARINE/BALLAST WATER

AkzoNobel Launches Coating Efficiency Tool (10/15/15)<http://maritime-executive.com/article/akzonobel-launches-coating-efficiency-tool>

AkzoNobel’s Marine Coatings brand, International has announced the launch of Intertrac Vision, a tool that it claims is the shipping industry’s first to provide accurate and transparent predictions on the fuel and CO2 savings potential of fouling control coatings, prior to application.  The advanced science that underpins Intertrac Vision has taken over four years to develop. The work has been led by company scientists who have also collaborated with leading academic and commercial research institutes, including the University College London Energy Institute, MARIN, Newcastle University and more than 30 ship owners and operators worldwide…..


Calif: The enactment of Assembly Bill 1312 amends the Marine Invasive Species Act. The changes are briefly summarized in the following letter (link to the bill is also below)<http://www.slc.ca.gov/Programs/MISP.html>

•         Letter to Stakeholders and Interested Parties on the Enactment of AB 1312<http://www.slc.ca.gov/Programs/MISP/AB1312Letter_15Oct15.pdf>

AK: Cutting Edge Science on the Seafloor Testing Biocides on Invasives in Marine Waters (10/15)<http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=741>

No one would be surprised to find a tent pitched by campers in the high alpine or the boreal forests or even along the rocky shorelines of Alaska, but why are there tents on the seafloor?  This summer the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) partnered with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Marine Invasions Lab (SERC) and other entities to essentially pitch tents in the subtidal waters of Whiting Harbor, near Sitka. Obviously no one was camping out down there; instead these tents or domes created a contained area within marine waters where we could study the effects of biocide agents on the invasive colonial tunicate, Didemnum vexillum (D. vexillum). Our objective was to set up the domes over a span of the seafloor infested with the invasive tunicate and then introduce various biocides to test the efficacy with which they caused mortality to D. vexillum…

Blame El Niño for poisonous sea snake found on Ventura County beach (10/16/15)<http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-venomous-sea-snake-found-20151016-story.html>

For the first time in 30 years or so, a poisonous sea snake has been spotted on a Southern California beach, drawn far north of its usual habitat by what naturalists think are the warming ocean waters because of El Niño.  A yellow-bellied sea snake, Pelamis platurus, was found Friday at the high tide line at Silverstrand Beach in Ventura County by a surfer, according to officials at the Heal the Bay organization and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.



OTHER

Florida just added another feature to its winter tourism – a great python hunt (10/13/15)<http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/10/13/hate-giant-pythons-florida-wants-you-to-come-kill-a-few/>

Let’s see a show of hands. Who hates pythons? Please lower your hand if you only dislike the giant snakes from Burma. For this exercise, hate isn’t too strong a word. Florida is staging the 2016 Python Challenge<http://pythonchallenge.org/>, its second big hunt in three years for serpents that invaded the Everglades a few decades ago and are now vying with alligators for supremacy atop the food chain. This is your chance to kill them.


Implementing invasive species control: a case study of multi-jurisdictional coordination at Lake Tahoe (10/5/15) <http://www.reabic.net/journals/mbi/2015/Accepted/MBI_2015_Wittmann_etal_correctedproof.pdf>

Biological invasions are increasing in frequency and the need to mitigate or control their effects is a major challenge to natural resource managers. Failure to control invasive species has been attributed to inadequate policies, resources or scientific knowledge. Often, natural resource managers with limited funds are tasked with the development of an invasive species control program without access to key decision-support information such as whether or not an invasive species will cause damage, and what the extent of that damage may be. Once damages are realized, knowing where to allocate resources and target control efforts is not straightforward. Here we present the history of invasive species policy development and management in a large, multi-jurisdictional and multi-use aquatic ecosystem. We present a science-based decision-support tool for on-the-ground aquatic invasive species (AIS) control to support the development of a sustainable control program. Lastly, we provide a set of recommendations for managers desiring to make an AIS control implementation plan based upon our development of novel invasive species research, policy and management in Lake Tahoe (USA). We find that a sustainable invasive species control program is possible when science, coordination and outreach are integrated.

Washington Invasive Species Council’s Draft Strategic Plan<http://www.invasivespecies.wa.gov/documents/WISCStrategicPlan10-1.pdf>

REQUEST FOR PUBLIC COMMENT

The Washington Invasive Species Council is seeking comments on our Draft Strategic Plan. Please help us set priorities for the management of invasive species in Washington State!
The Draft Strategic Plan can be accessed HERE<http://www.invasivespecies.wa.gov/documents/WISCStrategicPlan10-1.pdf>. Comments can be sent directly to the WISC Coordinator Raquel Crosier at raquel.crosier@rco.wa.gov<mailto:raquel.crosier@rco.wa.gov>  until November 2nd 2015.


FISH


…….. “Why you take your goldfish out here, I have no idea,” said Duke, district fish biologist for the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife in Pendleton……..

WEEDS

Invasive Plants Are Moving from the Northern Hemisphere South (10/20/15)<http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/invasive-plants-are-moving-from-the-northern-hemisphere-south/>


South America and tropical Asia have the most diverse plant life on earth, so it seems intuitive that these regions would supply much of the world's invasive species. But that's not the case, according to a new analysis of global plant databases led by Mark van Kleunen of the University of Konstanz in Germany. The data show more nonnative plants originating from temperate Asia and Europe than anywhere else. The numbers also indicate that more species move from the Northern Hemisphere south than vice versa, in part because of international trade patterns. Moreover, “it is very likely that the rate of invasion is increasing,” van Kleunen says, because expansion of that trade, as well as general travel, “makes it easier for species to move between continents.” [Full Article = $$$$]

JOBS

Staff Biologist in the USGS Northwest Region Office<https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/418513100>

Do you want to be part of an innovative research science organization? The incumbent serves as a Staff Biologist in the USGS Northwest Region Office, with primary responsibility to work as the Staff Biologist for the Pacific Northwest Aquatic Monitoring Partnership (PNAMP).<http://www.pnamp.org/> Would you like to work with a team of professionals committed to preserving our natural resources and environment? If you answered "yes" to these questions, then this job is for you. Join the USGS and be on your way to a rewarding future. CLOSES: Monday, October 26, 2015

COURTS


A federal appeals court on Monday ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to write new rules regulating the discharge of ballast water from ships to better protect the Great Lakes and other water bodies from the spread of invasive species. Environmental groups had filed a suit against the EPA arguing that the agency's 2013 list of requirements fell far short of preventing ships from releasing harmful invasive species such as zebra mussels. Ballast water discharge poses special problems for the Great Lakes, according to the ruling [read the court decision here<http://law.lclark.edu/live/files/20339-vgp-2nd-circuit-opinion>] from the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in New York. While the shipping industry contends that ships sailing only on the Great Lakes don't spread invasive species, the judges said otherwise. In their ruling, they said lakers — ships that sail exclusively on the lakes — are responsible for spreading most of the invasive organisms because of their movement within the lakes and because the relatively short duration of their voyages allows intruding organisms to survive……

            Related Story: Ballast Water Ruling Could Slow Global Action (10/18/15)<http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/ballast-water-ruling-could-slow-global-action>

Industry Response:  Court Ruling Confirms Need for Congress to Act on Vessel Discharges Bill (10/9/15)<http://www.americanwaterways.com/sites/default/files/Court%20Ruling%20Presses%20Need%20for%20VIDA%20Passage%20%20Press%20Release%20Final.pdf>


Editorial: EPA needs to do far better job of protecting the Great Lakes (10/8/15)<http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/epa-needs-to-do-far-better-job-of-protecting-the-great-lakes-b99592275z1-331479311.html>


FEDERAL/STATE/PROVINCIAL
LEGISLATION, ACTIONS
Congress’ crucial effort to strike a year-end fiscal deal is faltering before it’s really started…..

MEETINGS


OCTOBER

ISAC:<https://www.doi.gov/invasivespecies/> The Fall 2015 meeting of the Invasive Species Advisory Committee (ISAC) will be held on Wednesday, October 28, 2015 through Friday, October 30, 2015, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Agricultural Library (NAL), 10301 Baltimore Avenue (U.S. Rt. 1), Beltsville, MD 20705.


NOVEMBER

Aquatic Nuisance Species (ANS) Task Force<http://www.anstaskforce.gov/default.php> will meet from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, November 4, and Thursday, November 5, 2015 at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Building 3 (SSMC3), Room 4527, 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301-713-0174).

Coastal & Estuarine Research Federation<http://www.erf.org/cerf2015> November 8-12 Portland, Oregon.


2016

JANUARY

ICMB-IX - Hulls, harbours and other invasion hotspots<http://www.marinebioinvasions.info/index>: 19-21 January 2016, Sydney, Australia The International Society for the Study of Marine Bioinvasions invites you to participate in the 9th International Conference on Marine Bioinvasions (ICMB-IX), in Sydney, Australia. Abstracts should be submitted to the ICMB Scientific Steering Committee using the electronic form on the 'Call for Abstracts<http://www.marinebioinvasions.info/call_for_abstracts>' page.

FEBRUARY
INVASIVES 2016: Invasive ​Species ​Council ​of ​BC's ​Public ​Forum ​& ​AGM, will be  held Feb. 2-3, 2016 at the Pacific Gateway Hotel in Richmond, BC. ​Everyone welcome! Enjoy ​two ​action-filled ​days ​of ​learning, ​networking ​and ​ sharing ​with ​colleagues ​from ​across ​North ​America. Registration is open; be sure to enjoy early bird rates until Dec. 15th, 2015. See the Draft Agenda<http://bcinvasives.ca/documents/ISCBC_Public_Forum_Agenda_Draft_07_28_2015.pdf> (as of July 28, 2015). REGISTER<https://www.regonline.com/builder/site/?eventid=1682557>
APRIL

ICAIS: 19th International Conference on Aquatic Invasive Species<http://www.icais.org/> Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; April 10-14, 2016.

MAY
The Aquatic Ecosystem Health and Management Society<http://conferences.aehms.org/mfis-argentina/> international conference Marine & Freshwater Invasive Species Ecology, Impact and Management, Buenos Aires, Argentina, May 2-4, 2016.

14th Ballast Water Management Conference:<http://www.wplgroup.com/aci/event/ballast-water-management-summit-usa/> Date: 4th May 2016 - 5th May 2016 Location: Baltimore - MD - USA


OCTOBER

Upper Midwest Invasive Species Conference:<http://www.umisc.net/?utm_source=UMISC+2016+La+Crosse+Save+the+Date&utm_campaign=umisc+2016+save+the+date&utm_medium=email> October 17-19 2016 La Crosse, Wisconsin.
________________
TO UNSUBSCRIBE/SUBSCRIBE to the AIS NEWS email sphillips@psmfc.org<mailto:sphillips@psmfc.org>
Past issues of AIS NEWS can be found @ http://www.westernais.org/   under the “News” tab.

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Stephen Phillips
Senior Program Manager
Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission
205 SE Spokane Street
Suite 100
Portland, Oregon 97202
503-595-3100
Fax: 503 595-3232


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