An Erie Visitation

From July 26, 1991 (update #9)

During a recent visit to eastern Lake Erie, Wisconsin Zebra Mussel Watch Coordinator and ZMU author Clifford Kraft had the opportunity to spend two days leading a workshop for fishery biologists from federal, provincial and state agencies surrounding the lake. His report: "I was impressed during our discussions of fishery issues that zebra mussels were seldom mentioned as a current problem for prominent walleye, smelt, yellow perch and salmonine fisheries in this mussel-infested lake. When pressed for details, the biologists expressed long-range concerns about potential zebra mussel impacts, but said that little evidence of such impacts had been observed to date. "Although Lake Erie walleye, smelt and yellow perch populations fell upon hard times in the late 1980s, few at the workshop attributed these problems to the invasion of zebra mussels. Bad weather, overfishing, and the overstocking of salmon and trout were discussed as more likely immediate causes. "Evidently, it will take some time to sort out zebra mussel effects on fisheries from other sources of population variability.".

ID: 19910726-7.

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.