Golden mussels found in California on the radar for the Okanagan Basin Water Board

Golden mussels a concern

Photo: Marcela Uliano da Silva

There is a new player in the game and while it is not causing problems yet, officials are keeping an eye on the situation.

B.C. has long been vigilant in keeping invasive quagga and zebra mussels out of provincial waterways with awareness programs and some inspection stations for out-of-province boats.

And while golden mussels are not a huge concern for the area yet, they have been found in California and James Littley, COO with the Okanagan Basin Water Board, said they can cause the same problems other invasive mussels can.

The golden mussel is native to China and southeastern Asia, and it has been introduced to Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and South America. Potential pathways of introduction and spread could include transportation by ballast water of ships, contamination of bait buckets, live wells, bilge water, aquarium plants or aquaculture products, and through attachment to boating, fishing and scuba gear.

The mussels continue to expand their territory in California and Littley said he expects the mussels to be widespread in parts of that state within the next five years.

One of the big concerns about golden mussels is they are more adaptive than other mussels.

“The golden mussel can live in a wide range of conditions including low-calcium lakes,” Littley said, adding the mussels can also survive in brackish water. “As worried as we've been about zebra and quagga mussels, they weren't a risk to some of our upper-Valley lakes, but the golden mussels likely are a risk to basically all of the water here in the Okanagan.”

Littley said golden mussels are limited by temperatures, but “none of the temperatures our lakes reach would actually kill out a population if it were established here. The important message here is we have to stay vigilant.”

Littley said the OBWB is still calling on the province to have mandatory inspections for all out-of-province watercraft.

“The actions that we need to take remain the same and will protect us in the long term,” he said, adding the OBWB has been calling for mandatory inspections for the past decade.

Littley said more funding would be needed for mandatory inspections of all watercraft.

“We are still calling on them for more funding and once we know who the next federal government is we will be starting a new effort to really make sure that they come to the table because they haven't provided anything in the past four years or longer,” Littley said, adding the feds do provide funding to test for invasive mussels.

A weak point in boat inspections is watercraft entering B.C. through the larger ports of entry.

“If the border guard on duty knows about the mussels and feels like it they will stop the boat and inspect them. We understand that is largely not happening,” he said. “Our local border guards here in Osoyoos are doing a fantastic job, they are really on the ball, but I understand at some of the larger border crossings, particularly in the Lower Mainland, are not inspecting many boats or taking this too seriously.”

North Okanagan-Shuswap Conservative MP Mel Arnold has long championed the need for more funding to keep invasive mussels out of local waterways.