Michigan’s Great Lakes are threatened yet again by an invasive species. While Asian carp have gained a tremendous amount of attention, quagga mussels are multiplying at an alarming rate in the lakes. Since 2003, the mussels have taken over the lakes and depleted the food source of many native fish. Not only are they damaging the lakes’ ecosystem, but they are damaging the livelihoods of fisherman who depend on the lakes for their income. It is important that citizens and legislators take this invasive species seriously and implement regulations to protect the state’s lakes.

Quaggas are related to zebra mussels, and the species is currently thriving in four of the five Great Lakes. There are 437 trillion in Lake Michigan alone, according to a 2010 survey by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory.

This species of mussel hails from foreign ports and attaches to ships that have gained ballast water. These ships enter the lakes through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Since 1994, the number of mussels has steadily increased, with a spike in the population occurring since 2003. The population of quagga mussels in the lakes is extremely high, at four times the number of all fish.

In Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, quagga have preyed on a native shrimp species, reducing it to near extinction. Quagga mussels eat almost 98 percent of their weight each day, and much of what they eat is the same food shrimp in the Great Lakes eat. The shrimp, called diporeia, serve as the main food source for game fish like whitefish. Quaggas eat phytoplankton which diporeia feed upon, thus reducing the diporeia population. The mussels also create toxic algae which are responsible for increasing illnesses in humans and decreasing healthy algae populations.

The species is threatening the livelihood of many Michigan residents. Fishermen who could bring in catches from 90 feet below the water must now fish deeper, sometimes up to 150 feet. The species disrupts the food chains of more than one species of game fish that are necessary for the business of countless Michigan anglers fishing off the coast. While the mussels are decreasing biodiversity in the Great Lakes, they are also upsetting infrastructure by lining water pipes and creating costly damage in water treatment facilities.

With more than 3,000 miles of freshwater coastline — the most in the nation — the Great Lakes are one of Michigan’s greatest natural resources. In order to protect the state’s natural resources, biodiversity and industries reliant on the Great Lakes, it’s necessary regulations to be put in place that restrict the number of vessels that may carry the invasive species into the lakes. There must be increased regulation of ships entering the Great Lakes, especially those that may have picked up ballast water from ports inhabited by quagga mussels.