Mussel Mania A Bad Thing! Backdoor Watercraft Ban.

[Piscivorous Pike]

I just traveled 1500 miles to be administratively thrown out of Glacier National Park. Boats cannot be allowed in the park waters if they have been launched in a state that has the zebra or quagga mussels in state waters somewhere for 30 days. I had been in Arizona waters that were not infested 26 days earlier. They acknowledged the circumstances of my AZ launching could not possibly be contaminated but unlike the position I recently retired from, they had no authority for making a discretionary exception. All water craft must be inspected and the highways are loaded with different agencies inspecting all towed watercraft, (maybe) (with many exceptions, rafts, kayaks,etc.)

I learned from the biologist technician that all the ramps and access have been prepared in the park for permanent closure already, the biologists were just waiting for the trigger event. The gear,construction and monies have been spent and prepared to keep boats off the water.

That event is that if any watercraft is found to have launched in Montana after being launched in waters of a state that has the mussels without inspection or before the 30 days is up it is considered to have initiated a risk of contamination to the park waters.

I have stated before my educational background is wildlife management and obviously fisheries is a strong point of mine. I disagree with this over kill it is political not scientifically sound. They did not ban lead but this back door is closing.

The problems with the procedures are:

>The park waters were stocked with invasive fish species @ 150 years ago and natives are already displaced, the waters are basically supporting sport fishing not native species. So what will the exclusion protect? The Great Lakes actually have improved fishing conditions don't they?

>It is inevitable that the "trigger event" will occur, why else have the all but closed the waters? Once closed there are no plans to reopen even if the mussels succeed in colonizing the park waters.

>The inspections are not complete in there own right or by target watercraft. No one has thought of inspecting sea planes! As a matter of fact when I brought that up they crew I was discussing this with realized the oversight and will tackle the topic of aviation contamination on the next interest groups meeting.

>inspections is not 24/7.

>The weakness of the program suggest colonization by the mussel is ineluctable.

>The program spends needlessly, we loose sporting waters and access by false pretenses. The government, does it lie to us, is it lying to us about these waters?

Other parks likely have similar programs. Whose waters are it anyway? It belongs to the people in general, not anyone working in the park service. It irks me to see this happening because shutting down the waters also closes related programs, the stocking, hatcheries, commerce associated with the fishing. Invasive species, the sport fish, were stocked in the first place to develop the sport fishing so we are only attacking that part of our culture. The program will not save anything. The bull trout began to decline due to predation by the other invasive fish and siltation of breeding tributaries. Siltation came from logging and road building. Lake trout ate the west slope cutthroats and other trout species introduced cross bred to the native stock eliminating it in most places!

I had an interesting conversation to say the least with the folks there. They were pleasant and knowledgeable following orders allowed no discretion of their own. They will be the ones that enforce the ban, we have to change and stop the policy makers.

I have fished the Lake McDonald before, here are shots of "other invasive species". And now I have to turn around and leave, probably never again to fish these waters, damn politicians.

[mark poulson]

Driving all that way and not getting to launch sucks.

We've been dealing with the quagga inspections here in SoCal for several years.

Lake Casitas was the first, back in 2008, to close to the public and require inspection, and then a 10 day cabled quarantine, before you could launch your boat there.

Lots of the local guys up there had their boats "locked down" and only fish Casitas. Others went in on a pontoon boat that's locked down and moored there permanently, that they "time share".

Then Cachuma and Piru followed with their versions of inspections and cabling, and now Pyramid and Castaic are onboard with the same type inspection and cabling.

Diamond Valley will not let a boat from Arizona or CA Counties with quagga contamination launch, either, and their inspection regime is even more rigorous.

All of these water supply lakes are worried that mussel contamination will result in huge, ongoing maintenance expenses, which will eventually be passed along as higher water costs to us consumers.

it would be nice if each lake would recognize the others' cabling, but that's not always the case.

As a boat owner and bass fisherman, I do miss Casitas. But I am cabled for the local SoCal lakes that do recognize each other's cabling, and I don't see fishing Diamond Valley any time soon, so I have learned to deal with it.

And, if I were on the water boards for these lakes, I would be just as concerned.

In fact, as a water customer, I'm pissed it took them this long to get Pyramid and Castaic, and the rest of the CA Aqueduct lakes, onboard with an inspection program.

We here in SoCal now take the inspection protocall, and the geographic restrictions, into our fishing plans almost automatically.

Just like checking projected weather patterns and campgrounds before we go, learning what the inspection regimes are for a particular lake have become a part of our long term planning for away trips.

[Dink Master]

Who is inspecting the Waterfowl?

[mark poulson]

How come the international commercial shipping companies, whose ballast water brought the mussels here in the first place, aren't paying for abatement/prevention, instead of us?

[RayburnGuy]

How come the international commercial shipping companies, whose ballast water brought the mussels here in the first place, aren't paying for abatement/prevention, instead of us?

As the old saying goes, "Follow the money". Then you'll have your answer. It's a lot easier to go after the little guys (that's us) than it is to go after the big boys with tons of money (not to mention lawyers and politicians) in their pockets.

Just my

Ben