There’s evidence of a zebra mussel infestation at Clear Lake’s main boat cove, Parks Canada announced Friday.
Testing teams found one live mussel and several empty shells in the high-risk boat launch area of the lake, suggesting there’s “probably a localized infestation in Boat Cove,” Winnipeg South MP and Canada’s Special Advisor on Water, Terry Duguid, said in an interview.
Parks Canada previously announced it would take steps to contain a possible zebra mussel infestation by installing curtains around the Boat Cove area.
Zebra mussels (The Canadian Press / The Associated Press files / US Geological Survey)
Duguid said the curtains, due to arrive Monday, will act “like an underwater fence” in hopes of preventing further spread.
Parks Canada has tested for evidence of mussels throughout the lake. So far only Boat Cove has shown positive results. Park staff are exploring the option of potash treatment to eradicate the mussels.
Duguid said the watercraft ban imposed in May, though “not a popular decision” has likely helped minimize the impacts of an infestation.
“If we had not taken some of these measures there would have been a wider infestation that we cannot contain,” he said.
“We have caught this infestation early and there are options now to treat this portion of the lake to hopefully stop this infestation from spreading.”
The live zebra mussel was found during a visual inspection on July 17.
Water samples collected from the area between June 19-27 have also tested positive for zebra mussel DNA.
“This evidence shows zebra mussels are building a presence in Clear Lake,” Parks Canada said in a news release.
julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca
Julia-Simone Rutgers
Reporter
Julia-Simone Rutgers is the Manitoba environment reporter for the Free Press and The Narwhal. She joined the Free Press in 2020, after completing a journalism degree at the University of King’s College in Halifax, and took on the environment beat in 2022. Read more about Julia-Simone.
Julia-Simone’s role is part of a partnership with The Narwhal, funded by the Winnipeg Foundation. Every piece of reporting Julia-Simone produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
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