Private boating banned at Quabbin for 45 days

[Bluegill]

The Department of Conservation and Recreation will maintain a rental boat fleet at the reservoir, allowing some boating and fishing to continue. But the private boat ramps at the reservoir will remain closed for at least 45 days, until the state can design a way to regulate private boating and make sure all boats that enter the water are cleansed.

Link to the article.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/ma...o_private_boating_amid_zebra_mussel_concerns/

Telegram article states that there are none found...but it is a precautionary move....Zebra mussels have not been found in the Quabbin, and the agency said there is no known threat to the reservoir, which provides drinking water to around 2.5 million people, mostly in the Boston area, through the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority. Closing the reservoir to private boats was precautionary, according to the agency.
Link to T&G - http://www.telegram.com/article/20090715/NEWS/907159978/1116

*I will NEVER rent one of your POS rental boats, they run like SHITE, very hard to start, slow, beat to SHITE, etc...

Link to Mass Water resources is much better...Boston.com is all friggin drama.....This hopefully will be only for 45 days....hopefully.
http://www.mwra.com/01news/2009/071509zebramussels.htm

 

[Chris]

Zebra muscles and milfoil are an ecosystem nightmare. Don't be surprised if you start to see more and more prohibitions.

 

[Climbnsink]

Stupid. They're here just deal with it.

 

[M1911]

Stupid. They're here just deal with it.

Easier said than done.

 

[lord1234]

those of you who have no idea what zebra mussels are need to tread lightly. Zebra mussels DESTROY ecosystems. Here are your options:

A) let MA try to stop whatever incursion may have already happens

B) never plan to fish the quabbin again. Zebra mussels eat EVERYTHING. Each mussel(about the size of a nickel) can filter one liter of water per day. And they multiply like rabbits. So all those nutrients that your fish eat to stay alive, they're gone. The water in the quabbin will be crystal clear, but there will be no ecosystem left. All plant life and fish life will die.

I have seen this happen in lots of places, and it costs BILLIONS of dollars per year to deal with the fallout from zebra mussels(they also tend to clog drainage pipes and such).

I vote A. I would much rather rent a gross POS boat and still be able to fish, then not be able to fish at all.

 

[Mikey]

On the bright side they are known to raise the population and size of smallies.

 

[Bob P]

Never mind ecosystems, they foul pipes and filters. Quabbin is first and foremost a water supply. There's solid financial reasons to do everything they can to keep them out.

 

[Bluegill]

I spoke with the Pathologists at my work this morning about this and they said the same thing that these mussels are very bad and spread like wildfire.
Guess we will have to sit tight until they figure out how they are going to inspect boats before entry.

 

[PaulD]

Stupid. They're here just deal with it.

Not stupid and they are trying to deal with it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zebra_mussel

 

[rickster58]

It's easy to just complain. If precautionary steps need to be taken to preserve the Quabbin so be it. Go somewhere else until it clears up.

 

[arlow]

They have turned Lakes Champlain, Erie and Ontario into outstanding fisheries by cleaning the water.

However as Bob P said the real threat is them clogging the pipes leading from the Quabbin to boston.

Good news is that it is beleived that the Q is too low in calcuim content for the mussels to survive. They are doing tests to evaluate now.

Fishing at Quabbin always has and always will be a secondary activity. It is a reserviour primarily and their main concern at this point is protecting the water delivery infrastructure.

 

[Coyote33]

Mass. to allow private boats on Quabbin