The Department of Fisheries and Allied Aquacultures at Auburn University has completed several zebra mussel research projects in Alabama. Public awareness and education programs on the zebra mussel invasion are being conducted by Alabama Sea Grant Extension and the Alabama Cooperative Extension System for both youth and general audiences. They entered the U.S. about 1986 in the ballast of an ocean-going vessel trading in the Great Lakes and began to colonize Lake St. Clair adjacent to the Great Lakes in 1988. Large numbers of zebra mussels now exist in most of the Great Lakes with only Lake Superior avoiding heavy colonization. Industries in numerous states including Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have begun to request information about zebra mussels.
Many industries monitor for the mussels and some are now treating with molluscicides.
There is no perfect control method. California and Florida have enacted regulations making it illegal to knowingly bring zebra mussels into the state. These animals can live for several days after they are taken out of the water. Live mussels have been found on some incoming trailered vessels during inspections made at the California state line. Some recreational lakes in the Great Lakes region have been closed to visitors and tourists and only landholders can use them.