Inspectors spot invasive golden mussels aboard craft bound for Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe inspectors stopped a watercraft carrying invasive golden mussels from entering the lake last week, their second such stop since the mollusk was first discovered in California waters in 2024.
Officials earlier this week in Meyers spotted four of the invasive species aboard a craft during an aquatic invasive species inspection, officials with the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency said Wednesday in a news release. That craft is now under watch of California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The vessel was arriving from the Sacramento area, said agency officials. The first sightings of golden mussels in North America were in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta near the Port of Stockton in 2024. California Fish and Game commissioners quickly placed the species on the state’s restricted list, citing its immediate threat to ecological health of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and California waterways.
Authorities have intercepted four boats already this season with invasive mussels onboard — three with zebra mussels that have been spreading around the U.S. since the 2000s, and one with golden mussels.
Tahoe agencies said efforts to keep the invasive mussels out of Lake Tahoe are paying off. Mandatory inspections now require a full decontamination for vessels coming from other waterways. That includes opening hatches, inspecting anchors and using high-temperature water to destroy any aquatic invasive species, said officials.
“Protecting Lake Tahoe truly takes everyone working together,” said Chris Kilian, aquatic invasive species program manager for Tahoe Resource Conservation District, in a statement. “It’s one of the things that has made Lake Tahoe a national model for preventing new aquatic invasive species.”
Kilian and other Tahoe-area officials said inspectors like at Meyers are an important line of defense, but said vigilance begins aboard the watercraft by ensuring that boat and gear are clean, drained and dry before moving from one body of water to another.
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