Advances are being made on the research of zebra mussuls

Ottertail, MN (WDAY TV) - It's been the hot topic all summer in Lakes Country: Aquatic Invasive Species. From prevention to intervention, everything possible is being done to stop those pesky foreign invaders from ruining the land of 10-thousand lakes.

.For the past twenty years Aquatic Invasive Species like Zebra Mussels have been invading lakes and endangering fisheries. But advances are being made.

Mark Gaikowski: We're conducting research to understand how we could, first off,f how we could deliver biocides to selectively control Zebra Mussels and not impact native species.

Today in Ottertail, a member of the U.S. Geological Survey explained how they're trying to contain and kill A.I.S.

Gaikowski: If we're going to put this into the water, we're going to want to know where the Zebra Mussels are and we're going to want to focus our application on where they're most abundant.

Bill Schammert: Right now Zebra Mussels only affect 54 lakes in Minnesota. And the DNR says in the northwestern counties, it's still very much in prevention mode.

Nathan Olson: In our mind it's really simple procedures of clean, drain, and dry that people can take to go a long way to make sure they're not moving Zebra Mussels or plants for that matter around.

Locally, Zebra Mussels have already invaded Pelican and Lizzie Lakes.

Barb: Being able to contain those Zebra Mussels, we really feel like that will be able to protect the other lakes. Because we're known for the land of 10-thousand lakes, we really want to maintain that integrity.

The numbers may not seem high right now, but mussels can take up to three years to make their presence known in a lake, so nobody can be for certain exactly how widespread the problem already is.

Tags: zebra mussels, ottertail, package, environment