The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

Just to cheer you up!

"An alien species identified by the Government as one of the most destructive invasive non-native species has been found at Wraysbury Reservoir and in the nearby River Colne system, a tributary of the River Thames. Known to alter whole freshwater ecosystems, a mature adult can filter one or more litres of water a day, feeding on zooplankton which is the base of the food chain that all fish need to survive on and produce 1 million eggs in one season, so they can spread very rapidly.

Mark Owen, Head of Freshwater at the Angling Trust said: “It’s vitally important that all water users, including anglers, take every possible precaution to stop this species spreading throughout the UK. Quagga mussels could do untold damage to freshwater and estuarine environments if they are allowed to spread which could have a significant impact on marine and freshwater fish stocks.”

http://www.anglingtrust.net/news.asp?it ... Trust+News

Bugger!

What next? I just hope cormorants, otter or signal crayfish prey on them.

The old MWB used to "bluestone" the reservoirs - fishing went off - but allegedly it did remove/kill the invasive mussel specie living in the waters and pipes! Zebra Mussels!

Its not just you lot over there I am afraid .
http://www.fisheriesireland.ie/Press-re ... otice.html

I am rather fond of Shellfish, can you eat them?

Apart from the UK and I notice a post from Ireland, the problem is also over here.... this is from the NY State DEC, seems to be a world wide problem. If they can travel these distances, the problem could be compounded several fold in the UK.

Scientific name: Dreissena bugensis
Common name: Quagga Mussel
Native To: Dneiper River drainage of Ukraine
Date of U.S. Introduction: First discovered in 1989
Means of Introduction: Ballast water
Impacts: Alters food web by filtering water and removing plankton; clogs water-intake pipes

Quagga mussels dominate the soft substrates in the eastern basin of Lake Erie, which is the deepest of the three basins. Patterson et al., found that quagga mussels are present at all depths. The abundance of quagga mussels began increasing in 1992, at approximately the same time that zebra mussels (Dreissena polymorpha) reached their peak density in Lake Erie. Quagga mussel numbers continue to rise in all three basins, with the eastern basin exhibiting the greatest rise in abundance.

A few inland occurrences have been reported in Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The first sighting of quagga mussels outside the Great Lakes basin was made in the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and Alton, Illinois in 1995. In January 2007, populations of quagga mussels were discovered in Lake Mead near Boulder City, Nevada and in Lake Havasu and Lake Mohave on the California/Arizona border

I wonder if a few sturgeon would solve the problem, Or would they create another problem but then again they are a supposedly native species to the British Isles . Mind you I dont think a traditional approach would be a good thing due to the size that they can grow to

Flushing ballast tanks........again?