Within a month of the first confirmed sighting in Lake Erie, Sea Grant scientists were researching ways to control the mussel. Network programs are coordinating research and working closely with federal and state agencies to avoid duplication of effort and maximize the value of every dollar spent. Besides conducting research, the network provides the region's major nonindigenous species outreach and education programs. Since 1991, the National Sea Grant College Program has funded research to address this growing national problem. Most of this work has been conducted by scientists associated with Great Lakes Sea Grant programs.
Many projects are still under way.
Most scientists believe that zebra mussels cannot be eradicated, so the goal now is to learn to control or accommodate them. Better strategies to prevent the spread of zebra mussels and the introduction of new species are required. The quagga mussel, believed to be a new species of zebra mussel, has been found in Lake Ontario, and it also is spreading. The vehicles for this spread are numerous and include the hundreds of thousands of recreational boats trailered to and from the Great Lakes each year, and commercial vessels moving between ports. Sea Grant research is currently identifying economic incentives to prevent the further spread of zebra mussels and alternatives for preventing future introductions of other nonindigenous species.