If you've seen one zebra mussel, you have seen one too many.

These very small mussels multiply quickly and their offspring start out so small you can't see them. They gather on any underwater surface and soon will completely cover any part of a structure (dock - water intake pipe) or boat lift that is under water.

One tiny Eurasian water milfoil slip can reproduce itself to the point where a bay of a lake may be completely covered with the weed. It lies just under the surface like a huge green mat. If much of the lake is covered with the weed, the DNR will not allow chemical treatment of the Eurasian milfoil or curly pondweed.

Ron Duy, Minnesota Shoreline Restoration Inc., treats some 50 lakes for various infiltrations of exotic species. Lake Ossawinnamakee is one of the lakes he treats for Eurasian water milfoil. The milfoil has not been eliminated, but it is under control on Ossie, thanks to early treatment and an active lake association that worked with the DNR and Duy to control the noxious weed.

The zebra mussels were brought to North America in the ballast waters of trans-Atlantic freighters in the late 1980s. Unlike our native mussels, zebra mussels secrete sticky threads that are used to firmly attach to any hard surface in the water. They have a microscopic free-living larval stage (veliger), which may float in the water for two to three weeks. This larval stage ensures widespread distribution in lakes and downstream.

The microscopic life stage may be transported to other water bodies in any water (such as bait buckets) transported over land. Zebra mussels feed by filtering algae and other small particles out of the water.

These same small food particles are the food base for zooplankton and larval fish in our lakes and rivers. Zebra mussels may filter so much of this food that it interferes in the aquatic food chain, reducing the food availability for larval fish and impacting fish populations.

Boaters need to know that they may inadvertently transfer an exotic species - Eurasian milfoil, curly pondweed or zebra mussels - from one lake to another.

"We haven't stopped the march of zebra mussels," said Clyde Clement, Pelican Lakes Property Owners Association and Pelican Lakes Conservation Club. "Since the 1980s, the invasive aquatic species have been showing up all around the Great Lakes. The federal government has no enforcement procedures to protect the lakes, leaving it up to the individual states. The state of Minnesota isn't proactive - so it's up to citizens to be proactive."

The zebra mussels have traveled from Lake Ossawinnamakee to Pelican Brook, the Pine River and the Mississippi River from the Pine River south to the Minnesota-Iowa border. They can also be found on the following Crow Wing County lakes: Black Bear, Boom, Half-Moon, Little Rabbit, Miller, Pickerel, Rice and on wetlands adjacent to the Pine and Mississippi rivers.

Mille Lacs Lake also has an infestation of zebra mussels.

The only way to stop the spread of zebra mussels is through increased public awareness. Treatment with copper sulfate at Muskie Bay on Ossawinnamakee worked for one season, but didn't keep the mussels from spreading.

The Pelican Lakes Conservation Club has posted signs on public and private accesses at boat landings on Pelican Lake. Additionally, the club has gone to all the bait suppliers and they have agreed to put up signs in their shops. There are five accesses on Pelican Lake and all have signs.

So what is the boater to do?

1. Whatever you picked up in the lake should be left there. Don't take any water from the lake to another lake.
2. Before leaving a water access, inspect and remove visible aquatic plants, zebra mussels and mud from your boat, trailer, personal watercraft, etc.
3. Drain the live well and bilge in your boat before you leave the boat landing.
4. If you had your minnow bucket in the lake, empty the water out of it before leaving the lake. Do not dump the minnows in the lake.
5. Once out of the water at the boat landing, go over your boat for any weeds or zebra mussels.
6. If there are any weeds caught between the boat and the trailer, put the boat back in the water and remove the weeds from the trailer.
7. Check your anchor, ropes, and any other equipment that has been in the lake water.
8. Wash and dry your boat, trailer, and recreational equipment before putting your boat into any lake.

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