As peak boating season approaches, parks officials want to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species. South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks officers will be out on the Missouri River, enforcing boat decontamination rules.
Fisheries Program Administrator Will Sayler says it’s time to take more steps to prevent zebra mussels from spreading and destroying native aquatic ecosystems. The invasive species was discovered in Lewis and Clark Lake in recent years.
Not decontaminating a boat is a class 2 misdemeanor punishable by an $85 fine. South Dakota GFP will be patrolling the waters, waiting at boat launches, and helping boaters decontaminate.
It’s the first year GFP is providing that service. Sayler says they have officers out now because waters are warm enough for zebra mussel larvae to start hatching. He says unlike species like Eurasian milfoil and Asian carp, zebra mussels are hard to see.
Sayler says the larvae can live for days in water that hasn’t drained from a boat. That means boaters have to be especially careful to not transfer water between lakes.
