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Message: <blockquote data-quote="MuskyManiac" data-source="post: 42623" data-attributes="member: 381">Three adult zebra mussels were found on the Sorlie Bridge between Grand Forks and East Grand Forks last week, the North Dakota Games and Fish Department said Monday.   The invasive species were discovered on Red River sampling equipment used by the U.S. Geological Survey, attached to an aluminum pipe about three feet below the water's surface.The adult zebra mussels have the potential to harm water systems, boats and ecosystems, but the mussels are not currently causing any problems near Grand Forks. Still, officials are monitoring systems to make sure these problems don't occur later.What does concern officials right now is the potential for adult zebra mussels and other aquatic nuisance species to be near other North Dakota waters that may be more habitable to zebra mussels."When they're in the Red River, the chance of them moving over to the Sheyenne River or the Devils Lake Basin is greater," Fred Ryckman, North Dakota Game and Fish Department aquatic nuisance species coordinator, said.One adult zebra mussel was found in Fargo earlier this summer, according to the press release. There are now a total of four adult zebra mussels in North Dakota, including the three found in Grand Forks, according Ryckman."There really isn't anything we can do to remove the veligers (larval mussels) or any adult zebra mussels from the river," Ryckman said in a press release, "but we can be on alert and do everything we can to prevent them from being moved to other bodies of water."When the early stages of zebra mussels were discovered in the Red River earlier this year, the North Dakota Game and Fish Department implemented two new emergency rules. First, anglers must drain all water from bait buckets as they leave the shore, and unused bait must be properly disposed of. Second, all boats and watercraft must have their plugs pulled when exiting the river and the access area. All boats entering North Dakota must also have their plugs pulled.Additionally, the department asks boaters and local entities to "thoroughly check for new aquatic nuisance species infestations when pulling and storing fishing piers, boat docks and lifts" prior to winter.'Serious concern'Adult zebra mussels can cause serious problems for cities, such as clogging up cities' water intake pipes."That's one of the biggest drawbacks of the zebra mussel," Ryckman said.Zebra mussels "like to stay on the inside of pipes," Ryckman said, and sometimes they can back up the pipe's intake. To get rid of the mussels, officials have to backflush the pipes and apply treatment."They are a serious concern to water maintenance," Ryckman said.As of right now, the adult zebra mussels haven't caused problems with Grand Forks city water maintenance, according to John Goetz, Grand Forks city water plant supervisor.The city of Grand Forks monitors its intake structures annually for zebra mussels, and in the beginning of 2016, divers will go into the Red River to check the intake structures for zebra mussels, according to Goetz.If zebra mussels do eventually pose a problem for water intake, Ryckman and Goetz said that it will be easier to deal with the mussels now than it was in the past."The technology is getting better and better as [zebra mussels] are showing up," Goetz said.In addition to water systems, zebra mussels have an impact on aquatic ecosystems. "The zebra mussels feed on organisms that are primary food sources for newly hatched game fish," according to a press release. But Ryckman said that's not a major concern in the Red River by Grand Forks. The silt in the Red River is "not a good zebra mussel habitat," he said."I don't think they're going to establish any kind of large numbers," Ryckman said about the Red River area.It's good for people to know what zebra mussels look like so they can watch out for them, Rochelle Nustad, U.S. Geological Survey hydrologist, said. Zebra mussels are about the size of a dime, so "you have to know what you're looking for," Nustad said.The department asks citizens who discover zebra mussels to leave them attached, take a digital picture and report it immediately to a local Game and Fish Department district office.Zebra mussel veligers, or the early live stage of mussels, were discovered in the Red River between North Dakota and Minnesota in June, according to a press release. The veligers are microscopic larvae that "float with the current," attaching to hard surfaces, such as fishing piers, boat docks and lifts.Because of the veligers, the discovery of adult zebra mussels in Fargo and Grand Forks weren't a surprise, but they are a "major concern" because it means the mussels have become "more populous," Nustad said.The only known population of established zebra mussels in the Red River basin is in the Otter Tail River watershed in Minnesota, according to a press release.</blockquote>

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