Roadside inspection blitz at Manitoba-Ontario border targets spread of zebra mussels

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This article was published 30/08/2024 (396 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Federal fisheries and provincial conservation officers stopped 451 vehicles at the Manitoba-Ontario border last weekend in a continued effort to battle the spread of zebra mussels.

Between Aug. 23 and 25, roadside inspectors stopped vehicles with attached boats and other watercraft driving into and out of the province, looking for signs of aquatic invasive species.

Of the watercraft examined, 153 were not cleaned, drained or dry and failed inspection. None had visible zebra mussels attached to them.

Those drivers had their watercraft and equipment decontaminated and were given instructions for how to comply with the clean, drain and dry requirements, a news release from Fisheries and Oceans Canada said.

Jamie Moses, Manitoba’s minister of economic development, investment, trade and natural resources, said the province “remains committed to battling AIS and taking action through education and enforcement.”

“The inspections that took place… are an excellent opportunity to educate the public and stop zebra mussels from being transported,” Moses said in the release.

Clear Lake, near Riding Mountain National Park, continues to battle a zebra mussel infestation discovered late last year, forcing Parks Canada to close its waterways to boats and motorized watercraft this summer.

Parks Canada has since installed a containment curtain in parts of Clear Lake after it found an adult zebra mussel near Boat Cove in July and water samples collected from the lake in June tested positive for environmental DNA from zebra mussels.

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The containment curtain is designed to isolate the location where the zebra mussels and DNA was detected.

nicole.buffie@freepress.mb.ca

Nicole Buffie
Multimedia producer

Nicole Buffie is a reporter for the Free Press city desk. Born and bred in Winnipeg, Nicole graduated from Red River College’s Creative Communications program in 2020 and worked as a reporter throughout Manitoba before joining the Free Press newsroom as a multimedia producer in 2023. Read more about Nicole.

Every piece of reporting Nicole produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.