# quagga mussel



## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Has anybody been following this news?

http://wildlife.utah.gov/mussels/

I think this should become mandatory on *all* waters, not just Utah but on *all* waters...

This article calls for washing with hot water at 140 degrees. But that 140 needs to be for at least 3 minutes. Most store bought pressure washer's cannot produce and keep 140 degree's for 3 minutes. Test in Vegas two weeks ago showed even with 3,000 psi of hot water at 115 degrees on a mussel it is not enough to make it release it's grip on a boat. Vegas test are also recommending a 28 day dry period to insure the mussel are dead. Humidity, mold, shady area's can allow the mussel to survive longer than expected, depending on the situation. Interesting also is the mussel can actually close up for up to 28 days to protect himself from detergents or herbicides of sorts.

Until Utah can afford to police or supply us with equipment to clean our boats, toons, wader's, etc. I hope everybody can police themselves on this one. I'm afraid we'll all lose rights to our precious waters if we don't act now to protect what we have and enjoy.


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## sawsman (Sep 13, 2007)

I agree .45. I really dont think many people are actually washing their boats as you described. Those mussels are tough!

I'd like to see power washers installed and avaliable at ALL boat ramps. I'm sure this would be expensive and not feasible in most situations but I think it would greatly help with this hitch hiking problem.


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## troutwhisperer (Jan 1, 2009)

Interesting post .45 I had no idea they were that tough to get rid of. :mrgreen: Thought of buying a bottle of 409, looks like it will take more than that. Last year they did inspect my boat and gave me a pamplet on those zebra mussels, I thanked them! I agree WE need to more or alot of waters will get infected.


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## FishMogul (Sep 8, 2007)

sawsman said:


> I agree .45. I really dont think many people are actually washing their boats as you described. Those mussels are tough!
> 
> *I'd like to see power washers installed and avaliable at ALL boat ramps. I'm sure this would be expensive and not feasible in most situations but I think it would greatly help with this hitch hiking problem.*


I think awareness is a start but it will take more than a few articles and I-15 bulletin boards to stop this problem. Would be nice to get power wash stations might be an expense that is needed. Better to spend a little money now than have to spend tons more in the future. *.45* is there a legit list of waters that are known to carry these critters? I'm sure they give a list in the guidebook just wondering how accurate it is.


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## bowgy (Oct 10, 2007)

Here is a Glen Canyon (Lake Powell) link of what you have to do. It shows what states are infested but not particular waters.
http://www.nps.gov/glca/parknews/upload/20090323fullpacket.pdf


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Here is the link of infested waters......

http://wildlife.utah.gov/mussels/infested_waters.php

I would think this is highly accurate and current, this is getting to be a big deal in the west. Colorado is having major problems and concerns with this...


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## FishMogul (Sep 8, 2007)

I wanted to know how big they are I think this is an adult quagga..I'm sure they would be easy to detect if there were lots of these guys on your boat or tube. But if you only had a couple I'm sure some might go undetected. I have no Idea what they look like as a juvenile, I guess a female can lay up to a million eggs in a year :evil:
this link is a couple years old so the map is not accurate but gives good information.
http://www.100thmeridian.org/Documents/Talking Points Regarding Western Quagga Mussels.pdf

[attachment=2:2my64md1]large_01mussel.jpg[/attachment:2my64md1][attachment=1:2my64md1]quagga_cluster.jpg[/attachment:2my64md1][attachment=0:2my64md1]or_invasivequagga.jpg[/attachment:2my64md1]


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## .45 (Sep 21, 2007)

Looks like a sea shell salad !!! :shock: 

I guess the 140 degree water melts the mussels adhesive, his ability to stick wherever he wants. Can you imagine the 'slime' leftover from these critters ?


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## BERG (Dec 4, 2007)

Good Posts .45. Those little critters were sent to us directly from hell.  I still don't hate you this week. :wink:


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## EmptyNet (Mar 17, 2008)

I just did a little reading about those little guys :evil: the adults are measured in MM and the juveniles are measured in microns :shock: so you wouldn't be looking for the adults on your boat you would be looking for something as big as a grain of salt. So hypothetically lets say I take the bass tracker somewhere that has the quagga and the little suckers are spawning and millions of eggs are in the water they would be even smaller than a grain of salt. Can you imagine all the places they could get, the bilge, intake on the motor, live well, anchor rope, water that you didn't drain out of the bottom of the boat. Oh yeah, let's not forget the trailer, just think of all of the infected water those carpeted guide bunks can hold. Now lets say I am one of those @$*holes that doesn't care, or worse isn't informed of the problem, and take the boat to Sand Hollow, Quail, Gunlock, Powell, well you get the idea. I think that .45 is on to something on this subject. I think we as fishermen have the burden of helping educate people to protect our fisheries.


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