My name is Mark Burrows. I work for the IJC’s office in Windsor, Ontario and I live in Gross Pointe Farms, Michigan right near Lake St. Clair.

Years ago when I was fishing with my kids on Lake St. Clair we would pull in weeds and the weeds would be covered with zebra mussels. It was clear that they were just everywhere. Lake St. Clair is kind of the epicenter for aquatic invasive species. There’s like a million recreational boaters right here in southeast Michigan. Recreational boats are considered to be the reason why zebra mussels have spread all the way across the Unites States. Recreational boats are a source or spread of invasive species. Zebra mussels, veligers, can be in the water in the bottom of the boat, they can stick to the out drive and the hull of the boat. When you put that on a trailer and not clean it all off, you can haul it to an inland lake. You have to be careful with that, the water in them and make sure that you clean your boat before you move it.