New Zealand Mudsnails (MZMS) Invade King County!

New Zealand Mudsnails (NZMS) are invasive to local streams that have no natural predators, parasites, or diseases to counter their population growth in North America. They multiply very quickly and have the potential to become a serious economic and ecological problem for the Puget Sound region. Indeed, local municipalities regularly monitor MZMS populations out of concern for adverse impacts to stormwater infrastructure, as well as effects to native species of fish and other aquatic life.

King County Natural Resources and Parks reports that:

New Zealand mudsnails threaten the health and stability of aquatic ecosystems because they crowd out native species – they reproduce quickly and have reached densities of over 400,000 snails per square meter in parts of the US. They have little or no nutritional value to fish or other species; however, they may be consumed instead of other animals with nutritional value. Some studies have indicated that New Zealand mudsnails can alter the chemistry of streams, disrupt the natural food chain, and drive out native stream insects. Natural resource agencies throughout the West are concerned that these animals could further harm threatened and endangered salmon runs.

Mudsnails are hardy, adaptable animals that can easily and inadvertently spread to new areas by people, pets, wildlife, and equipment. Once they become established in a stream or lake, it is nearly impossible to get rid of them without seriously harming native species present. Further, the costs of mitigating stormwater greatly increases due to the damage these mollusks cause to mitigation measures and damage to infrastructure.

MZMS are very small mollusks. Adult snails have been compared to a grain of rice in length (typically smaller than 6 mm in length in the Western US), the shells elongated with 5-6 whorls. When the tip is pointing up, the shell opening is on the observer’s right. The shell opening has an Operculum, which is a protective cover. Shell color is highly variable and can range from gray to light brown to dark brown. The photo below illustrates the small scale of the NZMS.

The small scale of the NZMS. Image courtesy of King County Natural Resources and Parks

The County has produced an NZMS identification information - shown below - sheet can be downloaded and printed to help with identification in the field. Note that many mudsnails indigenous to the PNW are also quite small and may appear similar to these invasives, so please try to identify species accurately before reporting to WDFW or King County.

As of June 2019, New Zealand mudsnails have been documented within King County in the Thornton, Longfellow, Pipers, Mapes, Kelsey, Mercer Slough, McAleer, May, High School, and Big Soos basins. To date (late February 2020) NZMS have not been reported in Issaquah Creek.

As always, be mindful of safety and the inadvertent transport of NZMS on boots, clothing and equipment.


REFs:

King County, Washington’s “Invasive Animal Species in King County: New Zealand Mudsnails” at ( https://www.kingcounty.gov/services/environment/animals-and-plants/biodiversity/threats/Invasives/Mudsnails.aspx )

Wikipedia "Mollusca" at ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mollusca )

Wikipedia "Freshwater snail" at ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_snail )

Wikipedia "Operculum (gastropod)" at ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operculum_(gastropod) )

Northwest Fisheries Science Center Science Symposium 2020 in Seattle Washington

 

Due to COVID-19 affecting the region, the NWFS Symposium 2020 Symposium has been postponed until further notice. ( https://tinyurl.com/y7j5lg2q )

Register at ( http://tinyurl.com/SciSym2020 )

Salmon, Suds, and Science: The Case of the Mysterious Snerka

Wednesday, 18 March 2020  6:30pm - 9:00pm
Rogue Issaquah Brewhouse 35 W. Sunset Way, Issaquah, WA 98027
Watershed Science Center  125 W Sunset Way, Issaquah, WA 98027

Kokanee salmon at the North End of Lake Washington: Some history, some mystery, and a plan for their return

Salmon, Suds, and Science: The Case of the Mysterious Snerka
Dr. Jeffrey S. Jensen, UW Bothell, Division of Biological Sciences
Board Member, Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation

Hosted by Bellevue/Issaquah Chapter of Trout Unlimited, Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park, Rogue Ales & Spirits and UW Bothell Sustainability

Kokanee, a freshwater only form of sockeye salmon, were once very abundant in small streams throughout the Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish basin.  This talk will focus on the history of kokanee in local waters, causes for their decline, the current distribution of sockeye and kokanee in Lake Washington and Lake Sammamish, and steps underway to return kokanee to North Lake Washington.

Confirm a seat at ( https://www.facebook.com/events/2483828321883547/ )

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria, Oregon ranks as one of the top ports by volume and value of seafood landed in 2018. Astoria comes in 10th in weight at 138 million pounds and 26th by value at $40 million.

REF: NOAA Fisheries "Fisheries of the United States, 2018." (2020-02-21)
( https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/fisheries-united-states-2018/ )

U.S. Aquaculture Production Highlights

 2017 U.S. Aquaculture Production, Highlights

While the worldwide amount of wild-caught seafood has stayed the about same in recent years, aquaculture continues to increase. Sales of domestic marine aquaculture increased on average 13% per year from 2007 to 2011, led by increases in oyster and salmon production. Excluding seaweed, the US ranked 16^th in aquaculture production, yet is the leading global importer of fish and fishery products, with nearly 90 percent of the seafood by value originating abroad, over half of it from aquaculture. Indeed, the U.S. seafood trade deficit grew to $14 billion in 2016.

According to NOAA Fisheries, in the United States marine aquaculture production has increased an average of 3.3 percent per year from 2009-2014. Though a relatively minor aquaculture producer, the United States is a major player in global aquaculture as the nation supplies a variety of advanced technology, feed, equipment, and investment capital to other producers around the world.

REF: NOAA Fisheries “U.S. Aquaculture” (2019-01-30)

( https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/aquaculture/us-aquaculture/ )

Klondike Gold Rush NHP’s Seattle Solar Panel Array

As a part of a National Park Service initiative to demonstrate the feasibility of generating electricity via solar power, in 2010 a 3kW (kilowatt) solar panel array was installed on the roof of the Klondike Gold Rush National Historic Park visitor center at the Cadillac Hotel (1889), located in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.

 An undated photo of the Cadillac Hotel in the Pioneer Square neighborhood of Seattle, Washington. Its current occupants include the National Park Service and the Klondike Gold Rush – Seattle Unit (KLSE).

A 2007 study estimated GHG (green house gas) emissions – including emissions from park and visitor activities – within the Park totaled 187 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (MTCO2E). In contrast, the combined emissions from park operations and visitor activities within the park are roughly equivalent to the emissions from the electricity use of 16 households each year. The 2010 Climate Friendly Parks Action Plan for the Klondike calls for a reduction of GHG emissions from park operations to 5% below 2007 levels by the year 2016. It further calls for reductions in the park operations energy use emissions to 5% below 2007 levels by 2016. Combined with improvements to the museum’s lighting systems, insulating the building envelope, and optimization/replacement of the HVAC, the rooftop solar array will enable the Park to meet its GHG reduction goal.

EAST: 12 REC210AE-US solar panels make up the KLSE Solar Array at the Cadillac Hotel.
The panels each produce a maximum 3kW.

Detail of a 12 REC210AE-US solar panel. 12 panels make up the KLSE Solar Array at the Cadillac Hotel. 

Detail of a 12 REC210AE-US solar panel. 12 panels make up the KLSE Solar Array at the Cadillac Hotel.

Specifications for REC Solar Panels (REC210AE-US)

A SMA “Sunny Boy” Solar Inverter SB300US (above) and a SMA DC-DISCONU-21 Disconnect Switch (below)

No substantial modifications to the building were necessary; to preserve the historic character of the Cadillac Hotel the solar panel array set back on the roof to avoid being seen from the street. On a normal sunny day in Seattle the panels produce and average 2.3 kW per hour while on cloudy days averaging about 300 W/h (watts per hour).

Note: Duke Energy “So what is a Kilowatt-Hour?”