January 14th, 2013 by Irene Miles
The folks at Wildlife Forever have teamed up with several partners including the North American Fishing Club to produce a series of television programs about aquatic invasive species that are threatening our waters.
Episode three of “Silent Invaders” offers an up-close and informative look at Asian carp, just one of several species that has either taken hold in our waterways or is threatening to spread and cause significant changes to important ecosystems.
You can watch the entire episode online here, as well as episodes providing information about Zebra and Quagga mussels and round Gobies.
January 11th, 2013 by Irene Miles
Sarah Zack and Danielle Hilbrich, members of IISG’s aquatic invasive species outreach team, set up a booth and talked with hundreds of visitors at the Let’s Go Fishing Show in Collinsville, IL January 4-6. They attended the show in order to provide more information to fishermen and boaters about the dangers of aquatic invasive species, and introduce them to some simple practices that can help reduce the spread of invasives.
Many visitors to the IISG booth had experienced Asian carp jumping at their boats while on the water, and were very interested in ways they could protect themselves while fishing and boating in infested waters. In addition, Danielle and Sarah encouraged anyone that catches an Asian carp – accidently or on purpose – to cook it up and eat it. Asian carp have mild-tasting, white, flaky flesh that takes seasoning and marinades very well. Asian carp are a healthy choice too, since they’re low in contaminants and high in omega-3 fatty acids. Many attendees said they were willing to try cooking Asian carp, so Danielle and Sarah shared recipes with them as well as copies of Louisiana Sea Grant’s video on how to fillet Asian carp.
The booth was highly visited throughout the weekend, and Danielle and Sarah had the chance to hand out hundreds of Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!™ stickers and brochures while offering people more information about invasive species. The booth was even featured on a 92.3 WIL, a popular St. Louis country radio station, and radio host Bo Matthews briefly talked with Sarah Zack about AIS prevention steps that people can take to stop the spread of AIS – inspecting for and removing aquatic plants and animals from equipment, draining all water, disposing of live bait in the trash, and drying recreational equipment before visiting another waterbody. Bo Matthews strongly supports IISG’s AIS-prevention message, and even put a Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers! sticker on the radio station truck to help spread the word.
January 2nd, 2013 by Irene Miles
A new law set to take effect in Illinois this year is aimed at helping to curb the spread of aquatic invasive species throughout Illinois’ waterways.
From WBEZ 91.5:
“The agency has targeted 39 other plant and animal species as “high-risk” threats to the Great Lakes region. Now, the state of Illinois is hoping to put a dent in the critters’ spread with a law aimed at boaters.
The new state regulation, which goes into effect at the start of 2013, makes it illegal for a boat in one river or lake to pick up plants and then go into another body of water — at least without being cleaned first.”
Read more and listen to the radio segment about the new law at the link above.
December 21st, 2012 by Irene Miles
Making a Great Lakes-themed riff on a holiday classic, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has compiled some aquatic invasive species information in the form of a modified “Twelve Days of Christmas.”
Seven carp a-leaping, perhaps? Check out the full article, written by our friends at Wisconsin Sea Grant, and learn a little more about aquatic invasives in the process.
From everyone at Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant, have a safe, happy, and healthy holiday season.
December 19th, 2012 by Irene Miles
Activities associated with the purchase, sale, and use of commercially available organisms or “organisms-in-trade” can potentially result in the introduction of aquatic invasive species (AIS) to waterways such as the Great Lakes. Preventing these introductions is a much more cost-effective way to protect waterways, as opposed to the cost and effort involved in controlling or managing them once they become established.
Building on a University of Notre Dame-led project to examine the environmental risks posed by certain “organisms in trade” (OIT), Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant has been awarded grant funding through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) for a project titled “GLSGN OIT Initiative – Expanding Risk Assessment Outreach.”
By creating an opportunity to remove these potentially invasive species from circulation, risk assessment is one way to prevent non-native species from becoming invasive. Risk assessment information is also important to AIS education, because studies have shown that education and outreach encourage and shape the behavioral changes necessary for preventing species introduction. For example, horticulturists decided against purchasing a given species once they learned it had the potential to become an invasive species.
This new GLRI grant provides for the creation of new risk assessment and OIT outreach tools including webinars, a training video, non-technical summaries of state laws and regulations, and publications for people involved with fish, reptile, and amphibian commerce. Development of these tools will be guided by a survey that assesses the needs and preferences of OIT user groups. The goal of all these efforts is to reduce the introduction of potentially invasive species, thereby helping to protect and preserve waterways from invasive threats.
This initiative, a collaboration among the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network, North Carolina State University (NCSU), the National Sea Grant Law Center at the University of Mississippi School of Law (NSGLC), and IISG, will also help educate and inform the public about alternatives to high-risk aquarium, water garden, bait, live food, and classroom species.
For more information, visit our webpage about aquatic invasive species.
December 5th, 2012 by Irene Miles
University of Illinois Junior Lainey Pasternak, who interned this past summer with IISG’s Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) Outreach Team, wrote a guest blog about her experience working with IISG and, more importantly, about an award she received for her work.
Lainey writes, “Over the summer I worked to help increase recreational water user knowledge of AIS through survey research and outreach. I designed and conducted a survey to help investigate the prevalence of AIS-preventative behaviors among boaters and anglers, a key demographic in the effort to prevent AIS spread. By the end of the summer, I had formulated a formal research report and academic poster presentation based on the final survey results. All efforts in the research and poster presentation were collaborated with my internship supervisor and coauthor, Sarah Zack. The final project of the internship was a presentation of my poster “Evaluation Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Outreach Efforts in the Southern Lake Michigan Watershed” at the 2012 Illinois Water Conference.
On September 24-25, I attended the Illinois Water Conference at the University of Illinois. After submitting my research abstract and poster at the conference, I was awarded a student scholarship and honorable mention award for an undergraduate student poster. I had the opportunity to present my summer research at the student poster session throughout the duration of the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant 30th Anniversary Reception, courtesy of the Illinois Chapter of the American Water Resources Association. Among the 30 registered students of the poster competition, I was one of the two conference award recipients, and the only undergraduate to receive mention.
My internship with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant marked an important beginning step in my environmental science career. Attending the Illinois Water Conference not only provided me the opportunity to display my research project, but also emphasized AIS as an important issue affecting Illinois’ waters. I was immersed in a learning atmosphere of networking and the active exchange of new ideas to utilize in possible future research. This conference was the first research opportunity I participated in, and I consider it a major scholarly, professional, and personal success. Receiving a student scholarship and undergraduate honorable mention at the 2012 Illinois Water Conference marked the end to a very rewarding and fulfilling student internship with Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant. I will be continually proud of all my work and the impact I was able to make.”
Congratulations to Lainey on her award, and we look forward to your continued research and outreach efforts to keep our waters safe.
November 26th, 2012 by Irene Miles
Lake Erie is under attack, but from threats that we may be able to fix.
“The major threats to all the lakes include invasive species that throw a delicate ecosystem out of balance. In Erie, more so than the other lakes, toxic algae threaten the health of visitors and create “dead zones” where no aquatic species can survive.
At least 136 invasive species — plants, fish and mussels — have forever changed the lakes. But it’s the potential 137th invader that officials fear the most. The Asian carp wants nothing more than to spread through the Great Lakes and continue its feeding frenzy. Though a live fish has yet to be found, DNA tests suggest that they might already have infiltrated Lake Erie.”
Follow the link above to read the complete article, which includes interesting information about dead zones, toxic algae, and other growing threats to the delicate ecosystems of the Great Lakes.
November 19th, 2012 by Irene Miles
The ways for aquatic invasive species to be spread or introduced to waterways run the gamut, from bait buckets to trailers to…your loyal companion.
Wildlife Forever, a non-profit organization, has launched a campaign to let hunters know how they can help prevent the spread of AIS.
From The Great Lakes Echo:
“The non-profit Wildlife Forever received a $233,830 grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to help teach hunters how to prevent aquatic hitchhikers.
The campaign will teach hunters to properly clean waders, waterfowl decoys and even hunting dogs to avoid transporting invasive species. The clean, drain, dry technique is the most effective way to prevent the transport of invasive species between different bodies of waters, according to the group.”
Visit the link above to find out more about the campaign, and to see some PSA videos that were recently produced about the Clean, Drain, Dry message.
October 12th, 2012 by Irene Miles
The U.S. EPA recently awarded a Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust to help them in their fight against some of the most common and invasive plant species that have taken hold in Wisconsin wetlands.
“This quest received a financial boost last week when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency awarded a $448,663 Great Lakes Restoration Initiative grant to the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust. In return, the group and its partners will inventory and eliminate the most aggressive of invasive plants in wetlands and waterways in the six counties.
Graff, executive director of the land trust, said work will continue the rest of this year on locating each infestation. The organization is working with other land trusts in the region, the Wisconsin Land and Water Conservation Association and River Alliance of Wisconsin to curb the threat posed by the exotic plants.”
Follow the link above for the complete article, including information on other groups across seven Great Lakes states that received funds to help fight invasive species.
