Showing Our Mussel: The Great Lakes Sea Grant Network Report On Zebra Mussel Research And Outreach

In the mid-1980s, when the zebra mussel was first discovered in the Great Lakes basin, Sea Grant outreach personnel were among the first to recognize the enormous potential for adverse ecological and economic impacts and helped generate a quick response. This took the form of interagency research planning and development of control legislation for nonindigenous aquatic nuisance species. Sea Grant's nonindigenous species research covers wide-ranging topics, from manipulating zebra mussels' reproductive physiology as a possible means of control, to modeling ballast exchange at sea for control of aquatic animals while maintaining ship stability and safety. At the same time, Sea Grant outreach efforts are the basic avenues by which water users learn about ways to predict the arrival of zebra mussels (and another exotic, the quagga mussel) and combat them once they're established. This is increasingly important as zebra mussels continue to spread throughout the United States. This report describes accomplishments to date and ongoing research efforts.