Mendota's Spiny Water Fleas ??

On Sept. 11, a standard cruise on Lake Mendota's University Bay began for students in UW-Madison's Zoology 315, a course that introduces them to the study of lakes. With the sampling craft Limnos anchored about one-quarter mile offshore on a clear sunny day, four students pulled up a small net and began poking through its contents.

On Sept. 15, 2009, Joanna Klass, a UW-Madison junior with a double major in zoology and biological aspects of conservation, pulls up a plankton net cast in Lake Mendota. She next filtered the contents and found spiny water fleas in the sample.
The net was intended to catch plankton — free-floating plants and animals — and as the students dumped its contents into a jar, they asked Jake Vander Zanden, an associate professor at the Center for Limnology, to take a look. "I was struck by what looked to be spiny water fleas," he says.
About 20 years ago, these carnivorous crustaceans, which are not insects at all, invaded the Great Lakes, and biologists have watched them devour the native zooplankton that graze on algae and help clarify the water — always a concern with overfertilized lakes like Mendota. Vander Zanden happened to be an expert on invasive species that are disturbing lakes in the Midwest, including the spiny water flea. "I did a double-take," he says. "I thought, 'They are not supposed to be here.'"

But the sample was teeming with the invading water fleas, which are easily identified because of their large size and a nasty spine hanging off the tail end. That spine protects the crustacean by making it inedible to small fish, which is a second reason that the spiny water flea is harmful to the lake.
Click on the link to read more of the article. http://www.news.wisc.edu/17088 We all must do our part to help stop the spread of invasive species follow the clean boats clean waters guidelines!
Effective: September 1, 2009
NR 40 Helps to Slow the Spread of AIS

NR 40 took effect September 1, 2009. The purpose of NR 40 is to establish a consistent and comprehensive classification and regulatory system for all listed invasive species. For a list of regulated species visit, http://dnr.wi.gov/invasives/classifi...s_proposed.pdf .

With regards to what this means for aquatic invasive species, the laws under NR 40 will prohibit:

1. The transportation of any vehicle, including boats and trailers, on a public highway with aquatic plants or aquatic animals attached, and

2. Require removal of aquatic plants and aquatic animals and draining of all water from any such vehicles or equipment immediately upon removal from the water and before leaving any boat launch or parking area, and

3. Prohibit the placing of any boat, vehicle or equipment into waters of the state (statewide) if they have any aquatic plants or aquatic animals attached.

NR 40 is a DNR rule. On the legislative side, we are still waiting on Senator Jauch's bill SB 123 which will rewrite s.30.715 to be consistent with NR40. If and when the bill passes, any law enforcement officer will be able to enforce these provisions with the use of a DNR citation, or a Uniform Traffic Citation. In the meantime, now that NR 40 is effective, DNR law enforcement will have authority to enforce.

DNR media release announcing NR 40: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/DNRNews_Lookup.asp?id=185#art1

A media kit with background info about the rule and the topic is also available: http://dnr.wi.gov/news/mediakits/mk_...ve_species.asp

To view the rule in it's entirety: http://www.legis.state.wi.us/rsb/code/nr/nr040.pdf

Back the Clean Boats, Clean Act.
What is everyones thoughts on this latest development?
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