Scientists are racing to save Lake Michigan’s whitefish from collapse — but funding is falling far short of the threat. Quagga mussels, brought in on ship ballast decades ago, now carpet nearly every inch of the lake bottom, starving fish by filtering out plankton. University of Wisconsin researcher Harvey Bootsma’s team uses scrapers, tarps, and a 1,200‑pound “mussel masher” to clear spawning reefs, with help from invasive round gobies that eat young mussels. But the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has spent just $14 million on mussel control since 2010 — a fraction of what experts say is needed — and with the mussels covering 22,000 square miles, scientists warn time is running out.
There’s extensive coverage of the problem and efforts to address it in an article on Bridge Michigan linked in today’s script online.https://bridgemi.com/michigan-environment-watch/can-michigan-save-beloved-whitefish-fate-hinges-on-uphill-bid-to-kill-mussels/
This story first appeared on wvbi.net
