Zebra Mussels 20 Years Later

  • (Photo courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service)

The invasive zebra mussel has disrupted food chains and
caused billions of dollars in damage across the country. This
year marks the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of zebra
mussels. Mark Brush reports:

Transcript

The invasive zebra mussel has disrupted food chains and
caused billions of dollars in damage across the country. This
year marks the twentieth anniversary of the discovery of zebra
mussels. Mark Brush reports:

The invasive mussels first arrived here in the ballast water of foreign ships. The mussels
are really good at filtering food out of the water column – such as algae and zooplankton –
food that would eventually go to fish.

David Jude is a research scientist at the University of Michigan. He says, 20 years later,
researchers are still fighting a perception that zebra mussels are good for the
environment. That’s because the mussels do make the water clearer.

“Well if you get clear water that means that some of the algae and some of the
zooplankton that are in that water, that are part of the food chain, that are fueling our fish are going to be destroyed, degraded and
damaged.”

The Great Lakes have been hit hard by the invasive zebra mussels – and by their close
cousins – known as quagga mussels. Jude says in many places popular sport fish such as
salmon and yellow perch are having a tough time finding enough food to survive.

For The Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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