Ministry of Environment inspectors have once again stopped a boat contaminated with invasive mussels from entering the province.

Early in July, a boat was stopped near the Manitoba border which had invasive mussels on board. The boat was fully decontaminated and the owner was informed. The inspection station that intercepted the boat was set up just earlier this year.

The Ministry of Environment coordinates watercraft inspections in coordination with Manitoba, Alberta, and BC to help prevent the mussels from entering western Canada. 8 Mobile watercraft decontamination units are set up along the border with Manitoba, and Alberta, as well as the US - when the border is open.

Zebra mussels, an invasive aquatic species, can be transferred from lake to lake in or on boats, boat trailers, and even water toys and float-ables like tubes. Once they are in a body of water, they begin by eating the phytoplankton, which is a primary food source for smaller fish. Once those smaller fish run out of food, they starve and die, followed by the larger game fish who rely on them as their primary food source. 

It's not just the wildlife within the lakes they affect either.

Mussels have a horrendous effect on any intakes, for example at Buffalo Pound Lake where we have the intakes for water treatment systems or the potash industry or other users downstream. The impact they would have on them could cost millions of dollars to fix.