The province announced $150,000 in funding for its Invasive Mussel Defence Program after quagga mussels — an invasive species that has decimated eastern waterways in recent years — were found in the Snake River, a large tributary to the Columbia River, last fall. Money for the program is being contributed by the Columbia Basin Trust, BC Wildlife Federation and the Pacific Salmon Foundation. BC Hydro has also committed $900,000 a year for the next five years.
“We saw the Government of Canada withdraw their funding , which is, quite frankly, unbelievable,” Zeman said. “So we really stepped up in supporting this because there are no take-backs with this issue. We think it’s dire, and we’re really concerned that funding for this issue is giving nothing to prevention.”
“These species come in right near the bottom of the food web and filter out microorganisms, and everything above them in the food web is impacted,” said Hwang. “You’ll have fewer fish — you don’t have fish for your local people to catch, you’ll have fewer fish for tourists to catch, and you’ll have a cascade of other effects in the ecosystem.”
However, advocates say the government could be doing more than funnelling money to inspection stations. Not strict enough Zeman said current watercraft regulations are not strict enough to protect B.C. waterways from mussels.