MANDATORY BOAT INSPECTIONS ON HIGHWAYS!

[reinhard1]

it is true that more effort should be taken as far as species carried by vessels in the great lakes and elswhere. however the unwanted species are here and its basically impossible to eradicate them. so preventing the spread of these species is the best stratagy in my opinion. again, 98% of the inspections will occur at the boat landings that are located on waters infected. only 2% will be very limited random stops near lakes infected.

there are many states that have different or same issues as we have. they are all learning from each other for the control of these species once established and to prevent further spread wich is also part of this program. doing nothing is not an option. good luck.

[going4it]

Nope we cant prevent it 100% but we can slow it down while we figure out how to fix or deal with the problem. Just need to find the silver bullet and by slowing down the spread then we can try to contain it a bit. By saying we cant stop it so we are wasting our time is like having a small fire and saying forget it let the house burn its already on fire.

[RumRiverRat]

Agreed with the above post from Superduty.... The herd has already escaped the pasture unfortunately.

It's like an email virus...CRL-ALT-DELETE won't make it go away.

If we sell out lakes to Apple will it make them immune?

[TR21HP]

As I said in another post you have to approach this issue from 2 sides.

One is inspection at the ramp to stop further infestation, two is to introduce a predator to the zebra mussel such as the crayfish and smallmouth bass. By doing both of these you present a method of attack that probably won't eradicate the mussel but at least it will slow down or maintain the existing infestation. These mussels lay 30,000 to 1 million eggs a year so a predator has to be put in place to stem the tide.

[TonkaBass]

Inspecting boat on the road with not slow the spread of invasive species.

[TonkaBass]

TR21, smallies dont eat the mussels. Its the gobys that eat them, the smallies then eat the gobys and get, huge

[TR21HP]

TonkaBass, The smallies eat the zebra mussel eggs as well as crawfish eating them.Talked to a friend of mine at Ohio DNR and he said both crawfish and smallies are predators for the mussels and said they are the ideal predators for lakes in Minnesota as they are both native to the waters.

[TonkaBass]

The trochophore stage in the life cycle of a Zebra mussel (which is the 1st stage after the egg hatches) is 80-100 microns in size, or about 0.003149 " to 0.003937 ". So unless smallies took up filter feeding I'm pretty sure I dont buy it. (The eggs and all larvae stages of zebra mussels are also suspended in the water column until they become juvenile mussels.)

[TR21HP]

According to him the 1-5 mm mussels are the target of both crawfish and smallies with crawfish consuming up to 6,000 mussels a season. In lake Erie the Roach , similiar to the golden shiner, is the largest consumer of mussels which chooses the mussels as it's main food source.

[Raider4ever]

*Insert Bambi Woods Reference Here*

[hockeybc69]

Apparently some of you missed this part of the story/thread....

98% of the inspections will occur at the boat landings that are located on waters infected. only 2% will be very limited random stops near lakes infected.

Are that many of you bent out of shape that bad about getting checked at a landing?

Cripes. I have been checked in the past at landings and it costed me exactly ZERO minutes delay. They checked as I unstrapped the boat and got things ready to launch.

Boy, so inconvenient....

[Hester]

+1

[Superduty]

Apparently some of you missed this part of the story/thread....

98% of the inspections will occur at the boat landings that are located on waters infected. only 2% will be very limited random stops near lakes infected.

Are that many of you bent out of shape that bad about getting checked at a landing?

Cripes. I have been checked in the past at landings and it costed me exactly ZERO minutes delay. They checked as I unstrapped the boat and got things ready to launch.

Boy, so inconvenient....

The 98% part didn't come out with the original Star Tribune article. The DNR quickly pointed that out after the initial news article. The newspaper wrote about road side check stations. If you think the public access on Minnetonka or Mille Lacs lake are a zoo now, wait until the DNR sets up an inspection station. They are going to run out of paper writing citations. Good luck getting every last fragment of weeds or zebra mussel holding drop of water off your boat without experiencing a delay!

[tencountff]

Apparently some of you missed this part of the story/thread....

98% of the inspections will occur at the boat landings that are located on waters infected. only 2% will be very limited random stops near lakes infected.

Are that many of you bent out of shape that bad about getting checked at a landing?

Cripes. I have been checked in the past at landings and it costed me exactly ZERO minutes delay. They checked as I unstrapped the boat and got things ready to launch.

Boy, so inconvenient....

It seems you are confused. The checks are on your way home, and there will be lot's of delay. There not going to stop it, but if they're going to have inspection stations to satisfy the lake associtations and the politicians, they should do the inspections b-4 you launch. I guess that makes too much sense and wouldn't make as much money..(OR open doors to more invasion of privacy laws)!

[reinhard1]

i would suggest you check with the people in charge of this program. 98% will be at the boat landings and only 2% will be at or very close to the landings. we have 3 or 4 threads going on this now and it's amazing what i see as opinions and what i heard from the people in charge of this program. i can understand the frustrations from newspaper articles that have no details and random comments. my understanding is that details will be made public soon. they are still in the planning stage.

also they are aware of the constitution aspect of this due to the Asher ruling. so let's see the details before we jump to conclusions which i was guilty of when i saw the article in the paper. good luck.

[Prairiefire]

As long as we're at it why don't we hire thousands of poice officers to check people as they get into their cars. We want to make sure no cell phones are readily accessible so people aren't texting and driving (sarcasm).

I get checked every about every time I pull my rig out of Le Homme Dieu now, and no it's not a huge inconvenience, but it is a huge waste of my tax money! It's also an insult to my intenlligence as the kid at the ramp trys to tell me they're going to stop or slow the spread of invasives. There are days I fish 3 lakes in one day. That's what makes our state the greatest in the nation for fishing, the awesome variety. The Zebes have spread from Russia to the great lakes, and now are accross our nation; all the pressure washers in the world aren't going to stop it.

[RK]

Hiya -

After having thought about this quite a while...I really don't have a problem with it. And, with a cabin on an infested water, I can imagine I'll be checked a few times. Fine by me - I was doing all the stuff they tell you to do since long before it became mandatory.

I guess I look at it like this....it's as much about deterrent and consciousness-raising as it is actual enforcement. People don't bother to clean off their trailers through some combination of ignorance, laziness, or apathy. If the threat of a ticket is what it takes to get them to do what they should do anyhow out of personal responsibility and good conscience, so be it.

I remember talking to a CO when I got pulled over on the way home from Lake of the Woods back when they used to do checkpoints on Hwy 71. I was pulling a boat so I got stopped, although I'd been muskie fishing so didn't have any fish. Got to talking while I was there and I asked the guy what percentage of anglers were over their limit. He said "depends on the day, but usually around 20% or so." Judging by what I see at the boat ramp on the lake my cabin is on, the non-compliance rate for AIS is higher than that by a ways. If the threat of a ticket at a checkpoint cuts that down some and removes a possible vector for spreading Zebra mussels, that's good news.

I personally think doing whatever is practical to slow down the spread of AIS is OK. I DO NOT think their spread is inevitable. Zebra mussels got from the Baltic to here because at each step of the way, it was too expensive, too complex, to inconvenient...too something to take preventative measures. I just don't think the results of that past mean it's ok for it to continue.

I'll happily pull over at a checkpoint if it means they're there to catch the next guy who's too lazy to change the water on his minnow bucket or waddle around his trailer picking off weeds, too ignorant to see the harm in not doing so, or too stupid to care one way or another if AIS are in ever lake in the state.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[hockeybc69]

Quote:

It seems you are confused.

I am not confused.... I am also not going to worry about someone checking my boat. Big deal. I have only ever been checked before dumping in a lake. It takes them as much time to check my boat as it does for me to unstrap and get ready to launch.

If they check me after I pull the boat out. Go right ahead. they can check as I secure my items and boat and off I go.

Good grief. the sky is not falling.

Oh and by the way, Minnetonka is one of the lakes I have been checked on and it was no big deal....

[TonkaBass]

I agree with hockey. I dont think its a big deal as far as bothering me by any inconvenience, but I do think its a waste of money and lawmakers time.

[SkitterPopper]

Quote:

Hiya -

After having thought about this quite a while...I really don't have a problem with it. And, with a cabin on an infested water, I can imagine I'll be checked a few times. Fine by me - I was doing all the stuff they tell you to do since long before it became mandatory.

I guess I look at it like this....it's as much about deterrent and consciousness-raising as it is actual enforcement. People don't bother to clean off their trailers through some combination of ignorance, laziness, or apathy. If the threat of a ticket is what it takes to get them to do what they should do anyhow out of personal responsibility and good conscience, so be it.

I remember talking to a CO when I got pulled over on the way home from Lake of the Woods back when they used to do checkpoints on Hwy 71. I was pulling a boat so I got stopped, although I'd been muskie fishing so didn't have any fish. Got to talking while I was there and I asked the guy what percentage of anglers were over their limit. He said "depends on the day, but usually around 20% or so." Judging by what I see at the boat ramp on the lake my cabin is on, the non-compliance rate for AIS is higher than that by a ways. If the threat of a ticket at a checkpoint cuts that down some and removes a possible vector for spreading Zebra mussels, that's good news.

I personally think doing whatever is practical to slow down the spread of AIS is OK. I DO NOT think their spread is inevitable. Zebra mussels got from the Baltic to here because at each step of the way, it was too expensive, too complex, to inconvenient...too something to take preventative measures. I just don't think the results of that past mean it's ok for it to continue.

I'll happily pull over at a checkpoint if it means they're there to catch the next guy who's too lazy to change the water on his minnow bucket or waddle around his trailer picking off weeds, too ignorant to see the harm in not doing so, or too stupid to care one way or another if AIS are in ever lake in the state.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

Very well said! I have no idea how some people got the idea that they are going to be pulled over multiple times on a trip. This is just not going to happen. There are 72 CO's in the state. How are they going to be pulling cars over left and right and continue to do all of their duties? I believe there will be a few times of the year in a few high profile spots that this will take place (i.e. Mille Lacs on opener, July 4th weekend, ect..) Not nothing for me to get worked up about for sure.