by Scott Brown
MWA e-Newsletter Editor
In an effort to give scientists and tribal leaders in the Laurentian Great Lakes region the tools they need to combat the now massive infestation of exotic invasive quagga mussels that have severely degraded the capacity of lower Great Lakes aquatic ecosystems to support once abundant fisheries, U. S. Representatives Debbie Dingell (D- Ann Arbor) and Tim Walberg (R – Tipton) intend to introduce legislation in the near future that if enacted would dedicate $500 million in federal funding to long term efforts focused on eliminating the rapidly reproducing mussels. Representing a rare bi-partisan issue, if enacted, the legislation would modify a 1956 program used to combat invasive sea lamprey, an eel-like fish that invaded the Great Lakes in the early 1900s.
If passed, the “Save Great Lakes Fish Act of 2025” would provide funding that would be distributed over the course of the next decade. The federal funds would facilitate scientific research, and the development of effective control methods and restoration strategies intended to eliminate an astronomical number of quagga mussels and ultimately restore the capacity of Great Lakes ecosystems to support abundant whitefish populations and other commercially harvested fish species.
Entering the Great Lakes as exotic aquatic invasive species in the 1980’s, rapidly reproducing quagga mussels are widespread and now number in the quadrillions. Filter feeding invasive quagga mussels have severely affected the capacity of once prolific aquatic ecosystems to support abundant population of whitefish and yellow perch by effectively filtering out the phytoplankton that serves as a food source for microscopic aquatic insects commonly referred to as zooplankton that serve as a vital source of food for the small prey fish that sustain whitefish, yellow perch and many other important fish species. Populations of white fish, for example, an important commercially harvested species, declined by as much as 80% in the past forty years.