Invasive Species Prevention

Help Prevent the Spread of Invasive Alien Species

Albertans can take these simple precautions to help prevent the spread of invasive alien species.

Anglers and Boaters

Check your boat

• Before leaving the water body, closely inspect your boat, motor, trailer, anchor, centre boards, axles and all fishing gear. Remove all forms of aquatic plants, animals, debris or mud and leave them at the site.
• If you purchase a new boat outside of Alberta, be sure to wash it at that location before bringing it back to Alberta.

Clean

• Clean all equipment, clothing and anything else that may have come into contact with the water. If you find something that you believe came from the original water body, do not wash it down the drain. Bag the item and throw it in the garbage.
  • Non-absorbent items should be soaked and scrubbed for at least one minute in a two per cent bleach solution (20 ml of bleach per litre of water).
  • Absorbent items like felt-soled waders should be soaked in hot water for more than 40 minutes.
• Any item can also be frozen solid to kill off remnants of invasive species.

Drain

• Before leaving the dock, drain all the water from your boat and equipment, such as coolers, live wells, bilge or buckets.

Dry your gear

• Before visiting a new water body, ensure that all boating and fishing gear has been thoroughly cleaned and allowed to dry. Leave equipment to dry for at least another 48 hours.
• Wear non-felt-soled waders.
• It is unlawful to move live fish from one water body to another. Never release plants, fish or animals into a body of water unless they came out of that water body.
• When disposing unused bait, put the bait back in its original packaging and put it in a garbage container.

Off-highway Vehicle Users

• Remove any vegetation or clumps of mud or debris from the vehicle and thoroughly clean the underside of vehicles, tires and parts before moving to another area.

Purchasers of Recreational Equipment from Outside Alberta

• To help prevent the spread of harmful freshwater mussels and other invasive alien species to Alberta, clean and decontaminate boats and off-highway vehicles (OHVs) purchased or used out of province before returning home.
• Zebra and quagga mussels can produce up to one million eggs per season, which attach to almost any hard surface submerged in water, negatively impacting water-based infrastructure such as power plants, irrigation and industry.
• Decontamination and drying will reduce the spread of aquatic hitchhikers like quagga or zebra mussels that can attach themselves to boats, trailers, motors and even get into the cooling systems.
• If a boat has recently been in water, it should be decontaminated at a decontamination station or with a high pressure washer using water at 60 degrees C. Most mussel-infested lakes in the US have a decontamination station. Wash each part of the boat for at least 10 seconds and flush the internal parts of the motor. Allow the boat to dry for at least a week before entering another water body.
• The following guidelines determine whether a boat has been out of water long enough in relation to daily temperature to kill mussels without decontamination:

  Maximum Daily Temperature	Minimum Days Out of Water
  Less than -1 C	3
  -1 to 4 C	28
  4 to 16 C	21
  16 to 27 C	14
  27 to 38 C	7
  More than 38 C	3

Gardeners and Lakeside Landowners

• Learn about invasive plants before going to gardening stores and do not buy such plants.
• Avoid buying packets of wildflower seeds as they often contain invasive plant seeds. Use local seed mixes or buy packets of individual flowers.
• Be careful where you get soil from as there can be invasive plant seeds in the soil.
• Do not plant any aquatic vegetation on or near a lake or river, or where run-off can wash the plant into a lake or river.
• Use Certified #1 seed and request a seed certificate analysis from the supplier or grower to ensure the seed is weed-free.
• If you have an invasive plant in your garden, remove it and burn it.
• If you suspect you have an invasive species in or around your lake or on your lake property, call the nearest Fish and Wildlife office at 310-0000.
• Visit the Alberta Invasive Plants Council website and view the Weed Wise Brochure for helpful tips on growing non-invasive plants:
  • Alberta Invasive Plants Council

 

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Updated: Jul 18, 2011