Zebra mussels alive and well in the Red River

The North Dakota Game and Fish Department continues to monitor rivers and streams around the state for invasive species.

Adult zebra mussels were first discovered in the Red River in 2015 and have quickly spread. The department’s ANS coordinator Ben Holen says once zebra mussels establish in a system everything downstream eventually gets infested.  “One female can produce 500,000 plus over a year.”

Holen says right now five waterways are infested in the state – including two reservoirs and three river systems. “Often with zebra mussels you see 5-7 years where there are initially introduced they skyrocket.  They seem to hit a caring capacity in a lot of areas and they are prolific but not at those huge levels and we are hoping to see that in the Red River.”

Holen says education is the key to preventing the further spread of any invasive species.
To help combat the spread of zebra mussels the department has installed boat cleaning stations at several sites including Grand Forks….and at Lake Ashtabula and Lake Metigoshe.

ANS Regulations
1. All aquatic vegetation must be removed from boats, personal watercraft, trailers, and fishing and hunting equipment such as fishing poles, bait buckets, lures, duck decoys, and waders before leaving a body of water. That means “vegetation free” when transporting watercraft and/or equipment away from a boat ramp, landing area or shoreline.
2. Live aquatic bait or aquatic vegetation may not be transported into North Dakota.
3. All water must be drained from boats and other watercraft, including bilges, livewells, baitwells and motors before leaving a water body.
4. All drain plugs that may hold back water must be removed, and water draining devices must be open, on all watercraft and recreational, commercial, and construction equipment bilges and confined spaces, during any out-of-water transport of same.
5. Anglers may not transport live bait in water away from any Class I ANS infested water, currently Lake LaMoure, Cottonwood Creek downstream from Lake LaMoure, the James River in Dickey County, Lake Ashtabula, the Sheyenne River from Lake Ashtabula downstream to the Red River and the Red River. All water must be drained from bait buckets as anglers leave the shore, or remove their boat from the water. Anglers must properly dispose of unused bait away from the river, as dumping bait in the water or on shore is illegal. In all other waters not infested with Class I ANS species, anglers can transport live bait in water in containers of five (5) gallons or less in volume.