A while back we had a post titled Immunizing Your Boat: It’s Coming? Sounded a bit far-fetched at the time, but maybe not in light of a couple recent items in Washington and Minnesota.
Washington
Anglers in the state of Washington are subject to random boat checks this summer. Wardens will be “conducting mandatory checks of boats, trailers and gear for aquatic invasive species.”
They mostly want to keep zebra and quagga mussels out of Washington.
The state notes that “importation of aquatic invasive species is a gross misdemeanor punishable by up to $5,000 in fines and up to a year in jail. Knowingly bringing such species into Washington is a felony and can result in even greater fines and jail time.”
Washington wants fishermen to “always carefully inspect and clean their boats, trailers and equipment before moving their vessels from one body of water to another,” and “clean off any mud, vegetation or debris, drain any water from where they last boated, and then thoroughly wash and dry their boat and trailer when they get home.
Plus, “boaters should also be aware that diseases and juvenile stages of some species can be inadvertently transported in bait buckets [and] live-fish well water.”
Get that? Carefully clean your boats. And now:
Minnesota
A recent news article about Green Lake in west-central Minnesota noted that “many of its property owners…worry that Green might someday become infested with zebra mussels or other aquatic invasive species.”
How far does that worry go? Terry Frazee of the Green Lake Property Owners Association feels that “decontamination should be required of tournament fishing boats before they’re launched in noninfested lakes.”
He added: “We already do that with our own [property owners association] power washers, working with local fishing clubs. We’re not against other people coming to Green Lake. But we want to do everything we can to make sure boats that come here aren’t carrying invasive species.”
So not only do they want decon, they already do it (sorta)!
But…
So my questions are:
1. Is this a trend that’s going to end up with boat sterilization stations at launch ramps and/or tourneys?
2. What will the environmental impact be of all this boat washing/sterilization?
3. Biological pollution is the toughest pollution to get rid of – meaning you can’t. So isn’t this just a lot of effort for nothing?
5 Comments
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Avidbasser
July 7, 2011 at 7:29 am
There won’t be any boat sterilization going on, possibly boat disinfection/decontamination though.
I’m definitely not a fan of regulation, but cleaning stations is probably the only way to stop many invasives from being spread.
What are they going to do about those pesky shore birds and waterfowl that don’t mind flying from one body of water to another without washing first though?
Dwain
July 7, 2011 at 7:55 am
at best something like this would only slow the natural movement from one body of water to another, in short, yes its probably spending a lot of money for nothing in the long run.
Bob Agee
July 7, 2011 at 12:22 pm
Ironically, it seems like some invasives like Zebra Mussels and Hydrilla do a lot to reduce pollution, while others like the eels and water hyacinth do just the opposite. Not sure if steralizing is a good idea, but it might be the best thing to prevent spread to non-contaminated lakes and waterways.
Matt
July 7, 2011 at 1:57 pm
I have had the privilege to fish tournaments on Green Lake in MN and live north of there were we have another popular bass tournament lake infested with zebra mussels. The boat wash is a reality. Not a bad idea but the issue is with bass tournaments. They (Lake Associations) really don’t want us “bass guys” having tournaments on their waters. Most people around here believe that bass boats and bass tournaments are the reason we have zebra mussels. Possible maybe, but we are not only people who use the lakes. A real hot topic up here right now, besides our state shutdown.
John Janousek
July 9, 2011 at 9:50 pm
The lake associations in MN do some good things, but they feel because they live on the lake and pay taxes it is their lake. The zebs are here in MN and will keep coming. I agree tha we need to drain and clean our boats this willat least slow them down. I see the “blame it on the tournament guys”on several lakes, but if youspend anytime on our popular lakes in MN, its the tournament guys who for the most part are curtious to other boaters and take the time to drain and clean the weeds from our boats. It amazes me how often the CO’s stop bass boats and do nothing as the tubers, wake boarders and jet skiiers come by within feet of us fishing. There are several lake ass… that have “helped” implement a maximum size of 12″ on bass on a few lakes that used to hold several club events. I do have to say that the average size of the bass in these lakes has increased though.