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Kelowna chamber wants more federal money to fight invasive mussels in B.C.

Chamber happy with recent announcement of $400,00 from Ottawa but says more is needed
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The propeller of a motorized boat encrusted with invasive mussels. Zebra and Quagga mussels can thrive in tiny crevices and even inside outboard motors, meaning very thorough cleaning is required to prevent their spread. —Image: CSISS

The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce wants invasive quagga and zebra mussels kept out of B.C.’s fresh water lakes – especially Okanagan Lake. And it’s calling on the federal government provide more money to ensure that.

Last week, the chamber applauded the federal government’s announcement of $100,000 over four years for research and $400,000 over the same time frame for education. But the chamber now says it believes strongly the emphasis must be placed squarely on 24-hour border monitoring to intercept infested watercraft as they enter the Okanagan from both the U.S. and from B.C.’s eastern border.

And it wants Ottawa to use more of the millions of dollars it has budgeted to fight invasive mussels across the country to do that.

“The Department of Fisheries and Oceans is to be commended for stepping up their education of boaters, and not spending solely on research. But, since its budget is just under $19 million in 2018 to fight invasive species threats across Canada, the minor increase in spending in B.C. and the Yukon of just $30,000 over last year won’t make much of a difference.”

The comments echo those of Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola Conservative MP Dan Albas, who also praised the federal Liberal government when it announced the funding for B.C. a few weeks ago, but now says the government should be spending more.

In a news release issued Wednesday morning, the chamber says Ontario lakes are already infested and the federal money is being spent there makes ups nearly the entire federal anti-invasive species budget.

“Federal and matching provincial funds must be allocated for more stringent monitoring and prevention in B.C.,” says the chamber.

Starting in 2015, the Kelowna chamber began writing and tabling policies calling on all levels of government to enforce prevention of mussel-infested watercraft from entering B.C.’s as-yet-unaffected fresh waterways.

The province has set up roving watercraft monitoring stations to check watercraft entering B.C. for invasive mussels and federal border inspection agents have also spotted mussels on watercraft entering B.C. from Washington State.

The Okanagan Basin Water Board also has a program running called Don’t Move A Mussel, which is an attempt to educate boaters and owners of not just watercraft, but other items used in lakes as well such as hip waders and jet-skis, to make sure they clean them thoroughly after using them in water outside of the province.

The rapid spread of invasive zebra and quagga mussels through fresh waters east of Saskatchewan has had devastating impacts on hydroelectric power, marine shipping, fishing and tourism industries. These species recently spread through waterways in the southwest United States, and pose an imminent threat to fresh waters in British Columbia. The federal and provincial governments have made a start at monitoring, prevention and education, but decisive action is needed now to avoid irreversible damage to our marine and tourism industries.

The chamber says it recognizes the permanent damage an infestation would cause in the Okanagan. The loss of revenue if the Okanagan is invaded is estimated at $40 million a year. Fighting an infestation would cost millions more.

The Kelowna chamber has resolution before the Canadian Chamber of Commerce saying it wants to ensure B.C. waters to remain free of invasive mussels by the province providing appropriate resources to implement a compulsory watercraft inspection regime and that it build on the federal regulations, where each boat that crosses the Canada-U.S. border needs to be inspected by CBSA.

It also wants to see the roving provincial inspection stations located at B.C.-Alberta border crossings.

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