LARIMORE, N.D. _ Zebra mussels have gained a foothold in the Red River in recent years, but a group of Larimore High School students under the guidance of science instructor Lorie Berthold is exploring a possible way of keeping the invasive mollusks in check.
Larimore is a participating school in the Red River Basin River Watch program, and the students are raising crayfish to release into the Turtle River next spring. Crayfish are natural predators of zebra mussels, the students learned, and while the Turtle River doesn't have a documented zebra mussel infestation, the Larimore students are working to ensure the invasive species doesn't find its way into the Red River tributary.
Larval-stage zebra mussels, called veligers, first were discovered in the Red River near Wahpeton-Breckenridge in the summer of 2010, and zebra mussels now can be found all the way to Lake Winnipeg.
"When we first thought of this, we knew that we weren't going to solve the problem of zebra mussels itself, so we're sticking to the problem of overpopulation," said Ty Stromberg, a Larimore sophomore and member of the River Watch team. "So, we want to control it as much as possible."
A program of the Fargo-based International Water Institute, River Watch is a river ecology initiative aimed at getting students involved in watershed monitoring and education through hands-on learning experiences. A total of 26 schools from Minnesota and North Dakota and 22 schools from Manitoba participate in River Watch.
A highlight of the program is an annual River Watch Forum held every winter, in which participating schools submit presentations on their work as part of a competition among all of the schools.
The 2019 River Watch Forum is Feb. 27 at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks.
