Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Dangers Of Zebra Muscle Infestation

Many of the emerald shiners on the bait market come from Wisconsin. The Wisconsin bait dealers association has put its members through a HACCP course to learn to recognize and avoid zebra mussels. Further, they do not load any water from the harvest area, and take other preventative steps in the harvest procedure. There is very little risk of spreading zebra mussels through emerald shiners from Wisconsin. Other emeralds are harvested in the east, and I can not speak for how those are handled. We have had some Emerald Shiners reproduce in large ponds in our area.

The vast majority of Fathead Minnows on the bait market come from Minnesota and the Dakotas. Currently, there is no problem with zebra mussels in their waters. However, they have a program in place to close harvesting in the specific waters if zebra mussels appear.