Fighting zebra mussels in the Eastern Townships

Blue Massawippi, a non-profit based in the Eastern Townships, gets its name from the lake it's been protecting since it was created in 1968.

These days, the group of volunteer conservationists watching over the Massawippi, one of three major lakes between Sherbrooke, Que., and the Vermont border, is in the fight of its life.

"For the first time this year, in October, we found some zebra mussels on our collectors [in Lake Massawippi]," said Philippe-David Blanchette, one of the organization's directors.

"We weren't in panic but we were really disturbed by what we found," he said.

Preventing the spread of an invasive species is a massive undertaking, one Blanchette says Blue Massawippi has already started but can't do alone. 

In an effort to get rid of as many zebra mussels as possible over the next year, before the population can grow and spread, Blue Massawippi is aiming to raise $500,000 to pay for diving expeditions and other related costs.

"The Ministry [of Wilfdlife] helped us organize a huge diving enterprise so we can find where are the mussels, what kind of mussels, young mussels, adult mussels, what was the status of the invasion?" said Blanchette.

"We're building a huge financing campaign and also working with the municipality, to try to intervene and stop the invasion."

Zebra mussels are a freshwater species native to the Caspian Sea region of southeastern Europe. They can be identified by their triangular shape, flat underside and zigzagged patterns of black or brown with white and yellow.

The species is considered invasive in Canada because they breed very quickly — females can release up to one million eggs each breeding season.

They out-compete native species for food, affect fish spawning areas and create clearer water that allows sunlight to penetrate deeper, promotes the growth of undesirable vegetation and can lead to toxic algal blooms which zebra mussels don't eat.

"It's really a huge threat for biodiversity," said Blanchette. "Frankly, it just takes all the place, takes all the food and won't leave anything else for the other species in the lake."

Zebra mussels can also clog water intakes and give headaches to municipalities because they're difficult to remove if they spread unchecked.

Blanchette says the early prognosis of the Lake Massawippi invasion is good. The zebra mussels that have been collected so far are young and concentrated in the northern section of the lake.