Manitoba pours $540K into fight against aquatic invasive species

CBC News

· Posted: Apr 30, 2025 3:58 PM EDT | Last Updated: 2 minutes ago

Manitoba is promising much wealth for the combat against aquatic invasive taxon specified as zebra mussels.

The provincial authorities is funnelling $410,000 into a caller money to enactment assemblage efforts to prevent the dispersed of the invasive species.

Local governments and organizations are invited to apply. 

Environment Minister Mike Moyes told a quality league connected the banks of the Red River successful Lockport, a fashionable sportfishing spot, galore at-risk communities already person self-run decontamination stations, and this caller programme volition assistance to make more.

The state is also spending $130,000 on specialized equipment. Some examples could include high-pressure washers to cleanable watercraft. 

Everyone tin help: Moyes

Moyes said the authorities has a role to play successful limiting the dispersed of aquatic invasive species, but truthful do the radical who usage Manitoba's waterways.

"Remember those 3 elemental words: clean, drain and dry" your watercraft, helium said.

"It's a small thing, but it makes a large difference, and it's required whenever your instrumentality touches a h2o body."

The state volition besides resume its watercraft inspection program as the upwind starts to warm up, Moyes added.

Aquatic invasive taxon are often dispersed to assorted rivers and lakes connected watercraft and instrumentality and tin clog pipes and harm ecosystems.

While various species person infiltrated Manitoba's waterways, zebra mussels person go a increasing concern, successful particular.

First discovered successful the state in 2013, zebra mussels person since been recovered successful Cedar Lake, Lake Manitoba and precocious successful Clear Lake, the largest assemblage of h2o astatine Riding Mountain National Park.

Last year, Parks Canada banned watercraft from Clear Lake and utilized an underwater curtain to effort to contain and yet eradicate zebra mussels, but those efforts were unsuccessful. The national bureau present says it isn't feasible to region the invasive taxon from the lake.