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Representatives Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Tim Walberg (R-MI) this week introduced a bipartisan bill to address the urgent, growing crisis of invasive mussels in the Great Lakes. The Save the Great Lakes Fish Act authorizes $500 million over 10 years for federal agencies to work with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and tribal, state, and local governments on a coordinated effort to combat invasive mussel species.

“Invasive mussels in the Great Lakes are the modern-day sea lamprey problem, and we must be doing more at the federal level to support the research into and deployment of a large-scale solution to combat them,” Rep. Dingell said. “We saw great success after efforts to manage sea lamprey were un-siloed in the 1950s, and this legislation aims to replicate that success. This is critical to protecting and preserving the Great Lakes, not to mention our fishing economy. Whitefish account for more than 80% of Michigan’s commercial catch, and their population collapse has been devastating for fishermen. This is an urgent problem that requires an urgent, robust plan of attack, and that’s what we aim to do with this bill.”

“The ecological health and well-being of our Great Lakes fisheries is vital to Michigan’s economy and our way of life,” said Rep. Walberg. “However, this precious and indispensable resource has been threatened by many challenges over the years, including the presence of invasive mussels. I am proud to join Rep. Dingell on this bipartisan effort to combat the spread of invasive mussels, protect the health of our fisheries, and ensure that future generations of Michiganders can enjoy this national treasure.”

Invasive mussel species, including quagga and zebra mussels, are efficient filter feeders that have caused massive disruptions in the Great Lakes food web and have created clearer lake water, which many native species are not accustomed to. By filtering large amounts of phytoplankton, invasive mussels reduce the food available for other small aquatic animals, which has cascading impacts up the food chain.

Additionally, the Great Lakes have tripled in clarity in the last three decades, meaning UV rays can reach depths they never did before, killing delicate embryonic and baby fish. These disruptions are devastating critical native species like the famous whitefish, where populations have dropped as much as 80 percent since the late 1990s.

The bill would:

• Amend the Great Lakes Fishery Act of 1956 to include a new section regarding invasive species of mussels.
• Direct FWS, USGS, and NOAA to assist in efforts to combat invasive species of mussels in coordination with the Great Lakes Fishery Commission and with tribal, state, and local governments; and
• Authorize 500 million over a 10-year period to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission to carry out this new coordinated effort.

This legislation is supported by the American Sportfishing Association, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes, Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, and the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.

"Great Lakes Whitefish, "Adikiameg" and the health of the Great Lakes are of the utmost importance. Dreissenid mussels have been a plague on the Great Lakes. Their disruption to the basic level of the food chain has had a devastating effect on Great Lake systems, has driven Great Lakes Whitefish to precipice of extirpation and caused the fouling of our beaches with algae,” said Douglas W. Craven, Director of the LTBB Natural Resource Dept. “The direct authorization and funding of invasive mussels control and eradication has been long needed with the effort toward that end needing to have started yesterday. There is so little time and much to do. We are eager to see this bill succeed and to work with the Federal government along with other partners on developing and implementing a solution to save this culturally, economically and globally significant fishery."

"Since first arriving in the Great Lakes in the 1980s, invasive mussels have spread to all five lakes, and altered the ecosystem in profound ways,” said Great Lakes Fishery Commission Chair Ethan Baker. “Today we understand that zebra and quagga mussels are an existential threat to the Great Lakes and without a coordinated response, they will continue to inflict harm on the environment, infrastructure, and critical species such as lake whitefish. Just as invasive sea lamprey require a coordinated, binational response for effective control, we must partner with national, state, provincial, Indigenous, regional, and local partners to find a solution to the mussel invasion. This bill makes that happen.”

“The spread of invasive zebra and quagga mussels has impacted fisheries across the Great Lakes, reducing opportunities for anglers and the businesses that depend on Great Lakes sportfishing,” said Connor Bevan, Inland Fisheries Policy Director at the American Sportfishing Association (ASA). The Save Great Lakes Fish Act represents a crucial investment in the health of species like yellow perch, walleye and lake trout, as well as the health of the region’s $5.1 billion recreational fishing economy. On behalf of the sportfishing industry, ASA applauds Representatives Dingell and Walberg for their leadership and commitment to the world-class fisheries of the Great Lakes, and we look forward to working with them to advance this important bill.”

“We are all protectors of the Great Lakes waters and working together to save the water, fish and usage is in the best interests of all people in and around the Great Lakes regions,” said President Virgil Wind of the Midwest Alliance of Sovereign Tribes. “The Great Lakes are a massive freshwater supply, holding about 20% of the world’s surface freshwater and 84% of North America’s surface freshwater”.  We are in this together and look forward to this bipartisan introduction of Representative Debbie Dingell’s “Save Great Lakes Fish Act.”