Get Habitattitude . . .

Habitattide

It’s a mouthful, but a very important concept for our aquatic natural resources. Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are one of the biggest issues plaguing our waterways, altering ecosystems and costing billions of dollars annually across the globe. (Learn more about AIS by reading my previous blog Alien Invaders, and check out our fact sheet Aquatic Invasive Species in the Great Lakes.) They get to new locations in a variety of ways, but one major pathway is the pet and aquarium trade, including ponds and water gardens. If you have a hobby that involves aquatic animals or plants, be a responsible owner! Never release or allow these organisms to escape into our aquatic habitats.

Some real life examples from right here Ohio include:

-Goldfish- One of the world’s most popular pets, and one of the world’s most widespread invasives. Originally from eastern Asia, these attractive fish are cheap, hardy, and easy to find (or win at fairs). They often outlive their welcome, and unknowing owners may release them instead of disposing responsibly. In the wild they can grow to the size of a two-liter bottle, and are responsible for declines in many native fish, invertebrate, and plant species. They are found throughout North America, including all of Ohio.

Goldfish

This large specimen was caught in Cooley Canal near the new Howard Marsh Metropark in Lucas County during a wetland sampling project.

-Hydrilla- Animals aren’t the only thing that can be spread via release. Many plants used in aquaria are non-native, and some can be incredibly aggressive and easy to spread in a new environment. Hydrilla is one of those. It can reproduce vegetatively, meaning small fragments can be carried to new places and start new infestations. It forms thick mats that interfere with water intakes, clogs waterways used for recreation, and blocks sunlight from getting down into the water column. It likely established through aquarium release, but recreational activities have spread it through much of the U.S. In Ohio it is currently found in the Ohio River, Pymatuning Reservoir, and some Cleveland Metroparks waters.

Hydrilla

Hydrilla on outboard boat motor. (http://www.auburn.edu/~webbeec/limnology/hydrilla.htm) 

-Red swamp crayfish- This rather large crayfish native to the southern U.S. has been popular in the pet trade, for classroom study specimens, and as a food item. Each of these pathways has resulted in released animals, and the red swamp crayfish can cover relatively long distances over ground to invade new areas. They eat just about everything they can find, competing with native crayfish and many other wetland species. It’s now throughout much of the U.S. and has a patchy range throughout Ohio, unfortunately including my backyard.

Red swamp crayfish

A red swamp crayfish from my backyard, and it just wants a hug.

-Purple loosestrife- Water gardens are another potential AIS pathway, and this plant is a good example of a bad choice. It was brought to North America in the 1800s because of its brilliant purple flowers, but it soon took over wetland areas (again, including my backyard.) It’s prolific, and can reproduce vegetatively as well as producing millions of seeds each year. Like other AIS, it outcompetes native species and alters the ecosystems that it invades. If you have a water garden, wetland area, or similar, plant native species! We have some native plants that are just as attractive, and a natural part of the ecosystem. You can find some options from the Ohio Invasive Plants Council, or our fact sheet.

Purple loosestrife

A wetland amidst a purple loosestrife invasion. (By liz west (Flickr: loosestrife close) [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons)

Ohio Field Guide to AISThose are just a few examples of the many AIS we are dealing with in Ohio. If you’d like to learn more, you’re in luck! I recently partnered with John Navarro from the ODNR Division of Wildlife and our OSU Extension colleague Eugene Braig to develop the Ohio Field Guide to Aquatic Invasive Species. It provides in-depth descriptions and range maps of 61 species of AIS of concern in Ohio, and tells you how to report them if necessary. If you find yourself in the field often, or know someone who is, please check it out. It can be a great tool to help us protect our aquatic resources.

And remember to get Habitattitude: Never release pets, plants, or bait into the environment!


Tory GabrielTory Gabriel is the Extension Program Leader & Fisheries Outreach Coordinator for the Ohio Sea Grant College Program.

What the HACCP?

The title says it all. Most people probably haven’t heard of the HACCP process before, and those that have are likely familiar with it in the food service industry. HACCP stands for Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points, and it was developed in the 1960’s as a way to prevent astronauts from being exposed to food borne illness. The process was since adopted by the FDA thanks to its effectiveness in preventing the spread of disease via processing and packaging of food.

So why is this Sea Grant fish guy talking about astronaut food?

In a dramatic turn of events, folks from the Great Lakes Sea Grant Network adopted this process years ago and used it to prevent the spread of invasive species and diseases and ensure quality control in the Great Lakes seafood and bait fish industries. Other thoughtful Sea Grant and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service employees morphed the process even more to address the spread of Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) in natural resource management activities. (If you’re not familiar with AIS, check out my previous CD blog on Alien Invaders.)

Invasive goldfish in a Lake Erie wetland- How many potential vectors of spreading AIS do you see in this picture?
(Some answers: boat, buckets, waders, net, coat)

As it turns out, this process is pretty successful in preventing the spread of AIS. So much so that there are a number of folks across the country that are certified to train natural resource managers on using the HACCP process in their work. That list includes my colleagues Jenny Roar and Eugene Braig, who along with myself will be hosting an AIS-HACCP workshop at Stone Laboratory August 28-29, 2017.

If your work finds you in the field, then you are a potential vector for spreading AIS, and you should strongly consider taking this workshop. If you know a natural resource professional, please forward along the information so they can help us protect our natural resources from the scourge of invasive species. Even if you’re not a professional in the field but enjoy outdoor recreation, remember to always take steps to prevent the spread of invasive species!

  • Learn to recognize AIS and report new sightings to the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
  • Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!Clean, Drain, Dry! When using boats or other aquatic recreational equipment, before leaving the water access: inspect and remove foreign material, drain water from all containers (bilge, livewell, etc.), clean with high pressure and/or heated water, and allow to dry for at least five days before transporting between bodies of water. Learn more at stopaquatichitchhikers.org/.
  • Dispose of unwanted bait, worms and fish parts in the trash.
  • HabitatitudeGet Habitattitude! Never dump aquarium pets, plants, other organisms, or water, including bait, from one water body into another. Learn more at www.habitattitude.net/.

For more information on AIS-HACCP, or AIS in the Great Lakes, contact me at gabriel.78@osu.edu.

Credits:

Title stolen from the creative brain of Sarah Orlando.

Photos and captions from USF&WS AIS HACCP Manual

Tory Gabriel is an Extension Specialist, Program Manager for the Ohio Sea Grant College Program.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

non-target species

What are we going to do to stop this fish?

In last week’s Community Development blog, which you can read here: u.osu.edu/extensioncd/2017/01/19/alien-invaders/, my colleague Tory Gabriel explained the threat of aquatic invasive species (AIS), also known as aquatic nuisance species (ANS).

Bighead carp

Bighead carp

The timing of his blog worked out well for me, because in this week’s blog I am going to tell you about a study Frank Lichtkoppler and I did that was published last month in the Journal of Extension on the topic of probably the most frightening alien fish we have in the United States right now: the Asian Carp. Check out the article here: joe.org/joe/2016december/a5.php.

The Asian Carp is actually four different species of fish: the black carp, grass carp, silver carp, and bighead carp. It has gained a stronghold in large portions of the Mississippi River basin in recent decades. It out-competes native fish species for habitat and food, and its population has skyrocketed as it has no local predators. It represents such an enormous threat to the fisheries of the Great Lakes that the US Army Corps of Engineers has been investigating the closure of the Chicago Area Waterway System (CAWS), the most likely route the Asian Carp could take to the Great Lakes. This system is incredibly important to shipping in the United States.

Let’s say you want to ship something from Cleveland, Detroit or a similar starting point down to Memphis or New Orleans. You must leave the Great Lakes basin and enter into the Mississippi River basin to do that. And of course the same thing goes for cargo coming the other way. Before railroads, canals linking various watersheds like this played an enormous role in contributing to the national economic integration of the United States. This was key in facilitating the economic development of our then young country. Today some of the canals are partially preserved as historical attractions. But the CAWS is different. It still plays a major role in shipping as it is the only waterway linking the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River basin. Estimates of the engineering costs of closing the CAWS and re-routing storm and sanitary sewers, combined with the economic losses that will result from losing it as a transportation corridor, are in the multiple billions of dollars.

So any consideration of the closure of this waterway system, which is also an important visitation attraction that I recommend you see when in Chicago, illustrates just how serious a threat the Asian Carp is. I chose the title to this current blog post partly in deference to a 2014 article from The Verge which underscores the urgency of the problem. The article is called, “America Must Kill This Fish.” I suggest that you take the time to read it here: theverge.com/2014/3/21/5533054/asian-carp-american-waterways.

Two years before that article appeared in The Verge, back in 2012, the US Army Corps of Engineers funded a set of public opinion surveys regarding closure of the CAWS. Because of OSU Extension Sea Grant’s experience in surveying Great Lakes charter captains on a host of issues and topics, the Corps selected our organization to undertake the survey for this key stakeholder group. Charter captains have a lot at stake here because, if the Asian Carp succeeds in reaching the Great Lakes, it will do heavy damage to the fisheries there. Recreational fishermen who hire charter captains are eager to catch walleye, trout, and yellow perch, but those species will be greatly reduced or even destroyed by the presence of Asian Carp. It is not an exaggeration to say that the Asian Carp could cause the worst ecological catastrophe in the history of the Great Lakes.

Our survey revealed that about 95% of charter captains favor closing the CAWS, and that the average captain is willing to pay about $95 a year to contribute to the cost of the closure. Our findings also show that charter captains who are making plans to expand their businesses are willing to pay more for closure, and the increase in willingness to pay is proportional to the magnitude of the expansions they are planning. About 17% of captains said they need more information in order to form a valid measure of their willingness to pay. And of course, the Extension Sea Grant network is currently conducting extensive outreach education to try to close this information gap.

It is not clear what the future is going to be as the country faces the challenge of protecting the Great Lakes from the Asian Carp. Our study plays a modest role in assessing the environmental economic opinions of one key stakeholder group, Great Lakes charter captains. Our contributions may be in the form of leading to surveys of the broader public – including boaters, shoreline anglers and even the American population in general. This would be appropriate since, in the final analysis the Asian Carp really is a national problem and the closure of the CAWS, if it comes, will eventually rely on general taxpayer funding of some type. Another contribution we have made is to the scholarly literature on the methodology of assessing public opinion, which will potentially have implications for how researchers measure opinions on all types of environmental economic topics ranging from global climate change to recycling to preservation of endangered species.

In the meantime, a number of measures have been taken to prevent the Asian Carp from crossing into the CAWS. One is an apparatus that sends a series of electrical shocks through the water as it approaches the CAWS. The level of electric shock intensifies with proximity to the waterway. For now, it seems to be effective. This brings up another point. Critics of the closure of the CAWS have been vocal in pointing out that basin separation, as attractive as it may seem to its proponents, is not a fool proof method of preventing the spread of the Asian Carp to the Great Lakes. And so the question remains: what are we going to do to stop this fish?

Tom Blaine is an Associate Professor with OSU Extension, Community Development.

Alien Invaders

They are all around us. Many humans interact with them on a daily basis. Even if you don’t have direct contact with them personally, all of us are impacted by their mere presence. They come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Some of them are terrifying, others falsely appear harmless, and still others are so tiny they are invisible to the naked eye.  I’m focusing on the ones that live in Lake Erie.

Aquatic Invasive Species

“Take me to your leader” (Photo by T. Lawrence, Great Lakes Fishery Commission)

That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I’m talking about aquatic invasive species (AIS). They go by many names: alien, introduced, exotic, non-indigenous, non-native. All of these descriptors just mean that it’s an organism that has been brought to a new environment where it doesn’t belong. If that new organism causes some harm, it is known as an invasive species. As in … it’s invading and taking over the new environment, causing harmful impacts on the aquatic natural resources and on the human use of these resources. Some of these species can cost communities millions of dollars due to pricey control efforts, damage to facilities and property, and negative impacts to local tourism opportunities.

According to the Great Lakes Aquatic Non-indigenous Species Information System, there are over 180 non-indigenous species reported to have reproducing populations in the Great Lakes basin, many of which are in Lake Erie. They’ve come from a variety of places and continue to spread, always with human help. Some major pathways include ballast water from international shipping vessels, aquarium introductions, intentional or accidental stocking, and barrier removal (such as shipping canals around Niagara Falls).

Controlling AIS

“If only controlling AIS in Lake Erie could be this much fun…” (Photo from www.gamefabrique.com)

So how can you help in the fight against these alien invaders?

  • Learn to recognize AIS and report new sightings to the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
  • Clean, Drain, Dry! When using boats or other aquatic recreational equipment, before leaving the water access: inspect and remove foreign material, drain water from all containers (bilge, livewell, etc.), clean with high pressure and/or heated water, and allow to dry for at least five days before transporting between bodies of water. Learn more at www.protectyourwaters.net.
  • Dispose of unwanted bait, worms and fish parts in the trash
  • Get Habitattitude! Never dump aquarium pets, plants, other organisms, or water, including bait, from one water body into another. Learn more at http://www.habitattitude.net/.
Independence Day movie poster

“We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight!”  (Photo from www.IMDB.com)

For more information on AIS in the Great Lakes, check out the resources below or contact me at gabriel.78@osu.edu. And good luck to you as you join us in the fight to stop these alien invaders!

Tory Gabriel is the Extension Program Leader & Fisheries Outreach Coordinator (Ohio Sea Grant College Program).

 

Ohio Sea Grant and Lake Erie Nature & Science Center continue long-time partnership in Northeast Ohio

What covers nearly 10,000 square miles, many of them comprising parts of eight Ohio counties in northern Ohio? In addition to creating a natural land/water boundary of over 310 miles in length, Lake Erie is a key focus area for Ohio Sea Grant and the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center (located in Bay Village, Cuyahoga County).

“The partnership between the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center and Ohio Sea Grant has been alive and well for nearly 30 years and continues to be an important relationship for a Center so close to Lake Erie,” says Darci Sanders, The Center’s Director of Education. “The expertise of Sea Grant staff is the perfect match to increase the effectiveness and efficacy of programming provided by our own talented staff.”

Lake Erie Day #2 2015-04-16

Photo: Ohio Sea Grant

Ohio Sea Grant’s focus on research, education and outreach for the Lake Erie region is a great fit for the Lake Erie Nature & Science Center, which offers high-quality nature, environmental and science experiences through school field trips, preschool, family, scouting and planetarium programs, nature hikes, and a variety of exhibits connected to its expansive wildlife rehabilitation program.

The Center’s staff and Ohio Sea Grant are working on hands-on informal science information sessions for 2015 that will feature experts on a variety of Lake Erie topics. Most recently, they hosted a workshop for faculty from Cleveland and Columbus that provided information, curriculum and supplies for teaching about aquatic invasive species in the classroom.

Family Fishing Day 2015-04-16

Photo: Ohio Sea Grant

On May 17, Family Fishing Day, children ages 6 and up and their families can enjoy a morning learning the basics of how to cast, where to fish and what kind of fish they’ll catch in Lake Erie. May 23 is Lake Erie Day, part of the Year of Clean Water Celebration, where visitors can celebrate all things Lake Erie. Ohio Sea Grant staff will be on hand to offer their expertise and interactive activities on aquatic invasive species, harmful algal blooms, boating and water recreation, beach safety, Lake Erie water snakes and more.

For more information, please contact Ohio Sea Grant Extension Educator, Sarah Orlando.