ZEBRA MUSSELS: Boaters and anglers - clean, 
drain and dry your boats to prevent the spread 
of a destructive invasive species ... on Passport 
to Texas.

This is Passport to Texas

Arriving in the ballast of ships from Eastern 
Europe, zebra mussels reached the Great Lakes 
in the 1980s.

05 -- They've been pretty steadily moving across much 
of the eastern and central portion of the United States.
 
Inland fisheries biologist Brian Van Zee says 
they arrived in Lake Texoma in 2009; and 
occupy waters of 6 lakes in north and Central 
Texas. 

10 -- They're primarily moved from water body to water 
body by boaters, who don't take the time to clean, drain 
and dry when heading from an infested lake to a non-
infested lake.

As filter feeders Zebra Mussels impact the aquatic 
food chain and compete for plankton. They clog 
water intake pipes of municipal utility districts, 
causing significant increases in maintenance and 
operational costs. It's vital boaters clean, drain and 
dry their boats after every outing.

19 -- We recommend boaters dry their boats for at least a 
week before they go from one lake to the next. If they 
pull the plug out of the bottom of the boat, lower the 
engines down, and make sure there's no water in them, 
and make sure the live wells are empty, and open those 
compartments up and let them dry in between going 
from one lake to the next, you really reduce that risk of 
moving zebra mussels from one lake to another.

At this time, clean, drain and dry is the law in 47 
Texas counties, and could expand to statewide. The 
WSFR Program supports our series. For Texas Parks 
and Wildlife ... I'm Cecilia Nasti. 

Total sound bite time:		0:34.0
Maximum Script time:		0:51.0 	 Suggested show time: 85.0 = 1:25