Invasive mussel species were detrimental in Lake Winnipeg last year and the Ministry of Environment is warning of the dangers to Saskatchewan lakes.
Representatives from the ministry spoke at the 2014 Fisheries Conference in Prince Albert Tuesday morning about the invasive species.
They say invasive mussel species can have a significant economic impact on fishing exports and that the best way to protect Saskatchewan lakes is through prevention.
“We are already competing against other fishers in other places,” Cumberland House commercial fisherman John Carriere says. “If we are going to be competing with invasive species, it may not be the end of fishing, but it will definitely slow us down.”
Once an evasive mussel species gets into a lake, they can be nearly impossible to eradicate as one adult female mussel can produce one million eggs per year.
The invasive mussels are mainly transferred by watercraft and the Ministry of Environment reminds all fishers to wash their boats and equipment thoroughly during transportation.