Passport to Texas

Zebra mussels on a boat motor.

Texas Boaters: Time to Clean, Drain & Dry Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Texans can help to protect their lakes this summer by properly cleaning, draining and drying boats and equipment every time they leave the water.

The threats to Texas’ aquatic ecosystems are many. In East Texas, the primary threat is giant salvinia – a highly invasive, free-floating aquatic fern that can make fishing, boating, swimming and other water recreation nearly impossible.

Another threat, Zebra mussels, have spread from North Texas to other lakes in East and Central Texas. These mussels can ruin shorelines with sharp shells, impact recreation, hurt native aquatic life, damage boats and clog water intakes.

If boaters take a few minutes to properly clean, drain and dry everything that touches the water before they leave, they become part of the solution. These simple steps can make a huge difference in our efforts to protect and preserve Texas lakes for future generations.

If you need incentive: the transport of aquatic invasive species can result in legal trouble for boaters, and it is punishable by a fine of up to $500 per violation.

Learn more about giant salvinia, zebra mussels and other invasive species in Texas at texasinvasives.org.

The Sport Fish restoration Program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Help Halt Aquatic Invasive Species Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

You know how Smokey Bear says:

[Smokey Bear] Remember: only you can prevent forest fires.

He’s reminding us of our personal responsibility when we’re outdoors. It’s as true on the water as it is on the land.

Aquatic invasive species can quickly infect water bodies unless we take preventive measures. With summer boating season underway, Texas Parks and Wildlife asks boaters to help to stop the spread giant salvinia and zebra mussels which can travel from lake to lake on boats and trailers.

Boaters: “Clean, Drain and Dry” you boats, trailers, and gear every time you travel from one waterbody to another. A video on the TPW YouTube channel demonstrates the proper steps.

First, inspect the boat, trailer and gear. Clean off any vegetation, mud or foreign objects that you find. Second, pull the plug and drain all the water from the boat, including the motor, the bilge, live wells, and bait buckets before leaving the lake. Third, open all compartments and live wells and allow your boat, trailer and gear to completely dry for a week or more before entering another water body.

For complete instructions on how to clean, drain and dry your boat and trailer to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species, go to texasinvasives.org.

The Sportfish Restoration Program Supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife, I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Places where invasive zebra mussels hitch a ride.

Preventing the Spread of Zebra Mussels Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Last month we discovered zebra mussels in Canyon Lake.

Every time you get a new infestation it’s discouraging – it just really is. It just gets you down. And it’s frustrating, because you know that if boaters and people who we know care about the lakes and rivers in this state, if they would just take some time, and be a little careful and make sure that they just clean, drain and dry their boat before they leave the lake every single time, that will go a long time towards preventing their spread.

Fisheries biologist Brian Van Zee says zebra mussels can clog public water intakes, and damage boats and motors left in infested waters.

You know, if boats are stored on the water in the marina, those are the ones where we’re going to have colonies of adult zebra mussels attached to them. Those are the ones that boat owners need to take the time to have that boat fully cleaned and decontaminated; have it inspected by Parks and Wildlife before you go ahead and move it to a different lake.

Once in a river basin, zebra mussels are there to stay.

But, what we can do is we can prevent them from being spread to a new river basin. If we can get the word out to these boat owners and public and transporters in the state, and let them know we’re trying to stop this spread, and prevent new infestations within new river basins – then we have a chance.

Find procedures to clean, drain and dry your boat on the Texas Parks and Wildlife website.

The Wildlife and Sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Zebra mussels can clog water pipes, cooling intakes on boat motors, and almost anything else left in the water in infested lakes. Image by Larry D. Hodge

Nonnative Zebra Mussels Found in Canyon Lake Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Zebra mussels have high reproductive capabilities.

And then they also have the capability of attaching themselves to pretty much any hard substrate or surface found within the waterbodies.

Nonnative zebra mussels can have serious economic, environmental and recreational impacts. Biologist Brian Van Zee says 10 Texas Lakes are fully infested and another five are positive.

The ones that are listed ‘infested’ mean that they actually have a viable breeding population within the lakes. The lakes that are ‘positive’ are lakes where we have documented zebra mussels or their larvae on more than one occasion. So, we know they’re present, but we may not have been able to fully verify whether or not they’re reproducing.

Zebra mussels can clog public water intakes, and damage boats and motors left in infested waters. In June, they were discovered in Canyon Lake.

We know that the zebra mussels in canyon lake are a result of a contaminated boat that was brought and launched on the lake at some point in time. The other way the zebra mussels will spread and move in Texas is simply through their downstream movement of larvae. If you get a lake or a reservoir that’s on the upper portion of a river basin that becomes infested then, as water flows from those lakes and moves downstream, they will carry the larvae with them.

We can prevent the spread of zebra mussels when we clean, drain and dry our boats before leaving infested waters. More on that tomorrow.

The Wildlife and sport Fish Restoration program supports our series.

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.

Aquatic imvasives

More Funding to Fight Invasive Species Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

This is Passport to Texas

Record funding approved by the Texas Legislature is launching new fronts in the war on aquatic invasive species.

With $6.6 million dollars in appropriations, this year and next, Texas Parks and Wildlife will ramp up an unprecedented effort to control and stop the spread of aquatic invasive plants and creatures.

Some of the aquatic invasive species that will receive the agency’s attention include: giant salvinia and zebra mussels covering Texas lakes, to giant reed and salt cedar smothering rivers and streams, to exotic fish that compete with Texas natives and alter natural ecosystems.

One major category of work is Aquatic Invasive Plant Management—projects focused on management of aquatic invasive plants on public waters to enhance boater access for recreation, and management of riparian invasive plants in target areas to improve water quality and quantity.

In Texas, the economic impacts of aquatic invasives are far-reaching, costing the state billions of dollars annually, including threatening to undermine a recreational freshwater fishing industry worth more than $4 billion-dollars.

That’s our show. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation supports our series and helps keep Texas wild with support of proud members across the state. Find out more at tpwf.org

For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti