Milfoil & Curly Leaf Pondweed - Closed Public Accesses Put Forward

[mainbutter]

I have found no official study of.....mussels that show them degrading water quality or degrading a fisherie. I have found reports that show all 3-invasive species can be a nuisance to lake shore owners. And that mussels can clog water sprinkler systems and cling to docks. But nothing that says this fishery is degraded and it is because of one of the listed invasive/alien species.

It's been pretty much accepted by the scientific community that zebra mussels displace freshwater shrimp and other forage that support minnows, perch, whitefish, suckers, etc. that form much of the forage base for the predator gamefish.

I seem to recall reading something about a study on.. whitefish? (may be mistaken) that mentioned that although zebra mussels did displace some of the forage base, the fish species also began eating the zebra mussels. HOWEVER, growth studies found significant decreases in growth rates for fish that had their diets consisting more and more of zebra mussels.

[Hookey]

"Remember when Team Otter went to meetings with the Washington Lake Association on this topic? That is what I'm hoping anglers will do...show up to the meetings and get their voices heard."

Ya, I remember introducing him to my old neighbors involved in the Lake Washington Lake Property Owners Assn and scheduling the meeting at Westwood with them. I remember setting up the meetings with the DNR at Gander Mountian as well as gathering and printing the data for the informational meetings held at Gander Mountain that he presented.

I agree more people need to get involved. The herbicides used to combat the weeds are non selective and also affect native species of weeds. Many may not remember how it took Washington a couple years to recover due to the lack of weed beds in the lake. If it has.

As the DNR said any weeds are better than no weeds. Property owners claim they want to restore the natural weed species to the lake but the non selective chemicals they use destroy all plant life. The Assn is powerful and has a strong voice that may not always favor the creatures that swim in the lake. The rewards may be small but yes you need to get involved.

My humble opinion...