Aquatic Invasive Species | Clary Lake Association

This is why we conduct Courtesy Boat Inspections! Dave Knight found this fragment of Common Bladderwort (Utricularia vulgaris) on a boat at the State Boat Launch last Saturday morning during his 2 hour shift (picture above and at left). The boat had previously been in Duckpuddle Pond in Nobleboro. There are no known invasive plants in DuckPuddle Pond (one of the questions we ask boaters is what body of water was their boat in last). This particular plant is a native, non-invasive aquatic plant and we already have it and another variety of Bladderwort in Clary Lake (Floating Bladderwort, Utricularia gibba), but there IS a variety of Bladderwort that we don’t have called “Swollen Bladderwort” which has only recently been designated as invasive. Swollen Bladderwort looks a lot like Floating Bladderwort. This particular plant fragment was mostly dried out but it might have lived and continued growing if put back in the water. Continue reading →

Clary Lake Association member Alan Clark spends his summer’s here in Maine helping out with our Courtesy Boat Inspection program, the rest of the year he lives Utah. He was recently boating on Lake Powell on the Utah/Arizona border and sent me these pictures of an Aquatic Invasive Species decontamination station. Here on Clary Lake we’re primarily concerned with Aquatic Invasive Plants, but in Utah, they’re also on the lookout for invasive animals, particularly Quagga Mussels and Rusty Crawfish. It is only a matter of time before we too will be on the lookout for invasive animals, and we’ll likely have similar decontamination facilities installed at Maine boat launches. There’s plenty to be on the lookout for; here’s a link to the Maine DEP Advisory List of Invasive Aquatic Species.