"Don't Pick up Hitchhikers! Stop the Zebra Mussel!" 1994.  New York Sea Grant Extension Program

A fact sheet produced by New York Sea Grant Institute for the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network

"Don't Pick up Hitchhikers! Stop the Zebra Mussel!"

The zebra mussel, a black and white striped bivalve mollusk, came to North American waters from Europe in international shipping ballast water. Since its first discovery in Lake St. Clair in June 1988, the zebra mussel has spread rapidly throughout the Great Lakes; Arkansas, Cumberland, Hudson, Illinois, Mississippi, Mohawk, Niagara, Ohio, St. Lawrence, and Tennessee Rivers. The mussel is expected to spread to other fresh waterbodies and waterways throughout North America, from central Canada south to the Florida panhandle and from Maine and the Maritime Provinces west to the Pacific during the next several decades.

The zebra mussel is clogging power plant, industrial and public drinking water intakes, fouling boat hulls, and disrupting aquatic ecosystems throughout its range. Economic impacts of the zebra mussel in North America over the next decade are expected to be in the billions of dollars.

Adult zebra mussels in moist, shaded areas can live several days out of water. Kept wet, adult zebra mussels may survive out of water for more than a week; the smaller the mussel, the quicker it will die out of water. Mussel larvae will die very quickly when their "hiding places" are warmed in the sun or are "blow-dried" at 55 mph on the trip home, but can survive if kept in water. This means that the zebra mussel may be accidentally transported from infested waters into uninfested waters by anglers and recreational boaters trailering their boats from waterway to waterway.

Boats that have spent more than just a day or two in zebra mussel-infested waters may carry "hitchhiking" mussels attached to boat hulls, engine drive units, and anchor chains. Boats which have been in infested waters for only a day or two are less likely to transport adult mussels unless the boat has rubbed against something covered with mussels. On such short-term transient boats, juvenile mussels are most often seen attached to aquatic vegetation snagged on engine drive units and props and on water weeds snagged on boat trailers. Mussel larvae can be carried in boat bilge water, live wells, bait buckets, and engine cooling water systems regardless of how long the boat has been in infested waters.

You can help slow the mussel's "march" across North America (and prevent your own equipment from being fouled) by observing the following "good boatkeeping" suggestions when transporting your boat from waters known to contain zebra mussels.

BEFORE LEAVING AN INFESTED AREA:

Drain

Drain all bilge water, live wells, bait buckets, and any other water from your boat and equipment. Trash leftover bait at the boat launch site; leftover live aquatic bait should not be taken from infested waters to uninfested waters.

Inspect

At the ramp, thoroughly inspect your boat's hull, drive unit, trim plates, trolling plates, prop guards, transducers, anchor and anchor rope, and trailer. Scrape off and trash any suspected mussels, however small. Remove all water weeds hanging from boat or trailer.

Wash

When you get home, before launching your boat into uninfested waters, thoroughly flush the hull, drive unit, live wells (and live well pumping system), bilge, trailer, bait buckets, engine cooling water system, and other boat parts that got wet while in infested waters, using a hard spray from a garden hose. If your boat was in infested waters for a long period of time, or if you found any attached adult mussels, use HOT water instead of cold, or tow the boat through a do-it-yourself carwash and use the high pressure hot water to "de-mussel" your boat. Do not use chlorine bleach or other environmentally unsound washing solutions.

Dry

Boats and trailers should be allowed to dry thoroughly in the sun for 2 to 4 days before being launched into uninfested waters.

In the slip

The best way to keep a hull mussel free is to run the boat frequently (small juvenile mussels are quite soft and are scoured off the hull at high speeds). On boats which remain in the water, zebra mussels can attach to drive units and cover or enter water intakes, resulting in clogging, engine overheating, and damage to cooling system parts. If possible, avoid leaving outboards or outdrives in the down position. Hulls and drive units should periodically be inspected and scraped free of mussels. Hot water pumped through an engine's intake periodically is one method of preventing mussel growth inside an engine's cooling system.

Coatings

Antifouling paints may be effective to prevent attachment of zebra mussels on boat hulls, drive units, propellers and other boat components. Consult with your local marine dealer or manufacturer for applicability and local use or environmental restrictions. Hull waxes with a high silicone content do not prevent attachment, but may make mussels easier to remove.

Contact: Local Sea Grant Communications Office or New York Sea Grant zmussel@cce.cornell.edu
Keywords: Zebra_mussel, Monitoring, Prevention
Product Type: Outreach, Extension_Pub
User Type: Boating_and_shipping