HELENA, Mont. (NMB) – 2018 was a big year for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks and its aquatic invasive species program with a record number of watercrafts inspected, record number of water samples analyzed and no mussel larvae or adult mussels detected.
A press release says that some highlights include more than 100,000 watercraft were inspected at 35 watercraft inspection stations and Montana intercepted 16 out-of-state vessels with mussels. A new population of faucet snails was discovered in Lake Frances, but no other AIS discoveries were found. Divers and mussel-sniffing dogs were also deployed at Tiber and Canyon Ferry reservoirs in search of adult mussels and none were discovered. Environmental DNA testing was conducted on water samples taken from Tiber Reservoir in July and no mussel DNA was found.
Planning for next season’s AIS program is currently underway and boaters and recreators can expect to see changes next year to make the program more efficient.
