Quagga close call
By Terry Knight -- R-B Outdoors Writer
Updated: 04/30/2010 09:28:52 PM PDT


LAKE COUNTY -- Lake County dodged a bullet when a pontoon boat was stopped and inspected at a border station near Needles and found to contain quagga mussels. The boat's destination was Lake County and Clear Lake.

According to a press release from the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), "A vessel traveling from Lake Havasu was stopped at the Needles Calif. Food and Ag check point station on April 23. Mussels were found on outdrive of the vessel.

"The vessel was pressure washed and issued a quarantine notice.

"The final destination of this vessel was Lake County. The vessel was re-inspected on April 28, and no visible mussels were found. The vessel will remain under quarantine until May 24 at which time the DFG will inspect the vessel again."

According to DFG game warden Lt. Loren Freeman, DFG game wardens have verified the vessel is clean, drained and dry. In addition the boat is locked to its trailer tp prevent it from being launched into any body of water. Game wardens will continue to monitor the vessel to guarantee it remains in quarantine and is not moved.

Greg Giusti, chairman of the Lake County Invasive Species Council, said the discovery of mussels during an inspection proves the system works.

"The message should be, this is probably the first of many intercepted vessels as border inspections improve and Lake County quagga mussel inspection program matures," Giusti said. "The good news is that this particular vessel has been out of the water since last fall.

The vessel is clean of "obvious" dead mussels, it is not holding any water and has been "decontaminated" once already. This is not the boat that should cause panic (in my opinion) but should be a reminder to all of us just how difficult this task can be."
Lake County has an ordinance that requires all out-of-county boats must be monthly screened or inspected before being allowed to launch in any waters in the county.

The boats are then issued a color-coded band that is good for only the month that it is issued.

Boaters who fail to have their boats inspected and are cited can be fined up to $450.

Great news since they don't actually inspect your boat once you get to clear lake, they just take your $10, pocket it, and send you on your merry way.

HAHAHAHAHAAAA what a joke... "locked to it's trailer"... anything to keep people busy!