Millions for Mussel Control

From January, 1995 (update #23)

GRAND ISLE, Vt.- An effort to keep zebra mussels from infesting a new fish hatchery on Lake Champlain may cost $4 million, according to hatchery manager Dan Marchant. Although no veligers were found in water from the hatchery's two intakes this summer, Marchant said veligers were found throughout the lake this summer. The hatchery was completed three years ago at a cost of $10 million. A feasibility study identified a "multi-stage" system using ozone treatment as the most cost-effective way to keep zebra mussels out of the hatchery, which raises six species of salmon and trout for distribution throughout the state. According to Marchant, chlorine treatment was ruled out due to the risk of killing fish, and naturally occurring bedrock limited the building of sand filtration beds. As of mid-December, the state had appropriated $2 million for zebra mussel controls at the hatchery. Additional funds will be sought in a January legislative session.

ID: 199501-12.

The Zebra Mussel Update was a 4- to 8-page quarterly national newsletter published by the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute from May 1990 through May 1997. The ZMU documented the spread of the zebra mussel -- an exotic nuisance mussel -- through North America's freshwater environments, especially the Great Lakes, and on efforts to control it.