Newsletter

Battle Against N.Z. Mudsnail Intensifies in Santa Monica Bay

November 06, 2006 -- The Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission, UCLA and Heal the Bay released a report last month that says the highly invasive New Zealand mud snail is present in 15 of the 44 sites surveyed in the Malibu Creek watershed. Mud snails were found in Medea Creek, Malibou Lake and multiple sites in Malibu Creek and Las Virgenes Creek, including the confluence of Las Virgenes and Malibu Creeks. Because of this report, various organizations are stepping up to help deal with this threat. Click on the hotlink, scroll down and read the full story to get the details.

"Typically spread by humans on wet boots, waders and gear, New Zealand mud snails reproduce by cloning."

"New Mudsnail website"
 

Article 2:

Alert Wading Equipment Cleaning NZMS

These NZ Mudsnails are now in all 10 western states.
Many of us have been using the wrong Formula 409 product for killing New Zealand Mudsnails attached to our wading equipment.

“COMMERCIAL SOLUTIONS FORMULA 409 CLEANER DEGREASER DISINFECTANT”

The above 409 product is the only one that was used in the California Department of Fish and Game field test report released in 2005. This product will not be found in grocery stores as it is a commercial product but it can be found in Home Depot and Lowe’s, Office Max and Office Depot. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has recently discontinued this product but it is still available in places. The only other product that has the same disinfectant in it is:

“Formula 409 All Purpose Cleaner Antibacterial Kitchen Lemon Fresh.” - Available in many places but in small bottle sizes only

Key words to look for = Disinfectant or Antibacterial

Please make sure you are using the correct products, as other 409 products are not killing the snails though they do aid in washing them off your equipment. Other Manufacturer’s products with disinfectants have not been test or failed test for either not killing the snails or for damaging wading equipment.

Water based solutions with Copper Sulfate and Sparquat 256 are two solutions proven to be more effective than formula 409 solutions. See website below for details of where to find it and how to use it.

Ask your local tackle shop to start displaying warnings and give a hand out explaining options. It is in their best interest to help maintain the quality of our fisheries.

For more information about known sources for all the products, pictures of the correct product, detailed sanitizing protocols, and New Zealand Mudsnail information see this web page.

http://www.westdenvertu.org/snails.htm

Always cleanse your wading gear before moving from one body of water to another body of water. No one will know a location is infested until long after the snails are well established.