Starry Stonewort, an invasive species, is becoming a real problem on local lakes, say homeowners and naturalists.
Len Thomas, who owns a home on Couchiching Point, says he first noticed the invasive species about 17 years ago.
“The biggest problem we have with the lake is the take-over of this Starry Stonewort. It has just pretty much choked up the entire upper end of Lake Couchiching,” he said.
“It’s progressed to the point to where the people who live along the water are having a difficult time getting out on the water because of this invasive species.”
Thomas and his neighbours have searched everywhere for answers on how to eliminate the problem, but they have had no luck yet.
“When you go online and read about this being a major problem in Ontario, everybody gives you a little bit of advice and that is if you get it on your boat you should wash it off before you go into another body of water so that you don’t spread it. But nobody ever says how you get rid of it,” he said.
“I’ve been taking a rake and a rope and I go out as far as I can possibly go and bring it into shore, and then I have to put it in my utility trailer and haul it to the dump. It’s really nasty stuff," Thomas explained.
Local naturalist Bob Bowles says the pesky invasive species is a major concern.
“It’s a bad one, and it’s crowding out everything else,” he said.
“I’ve been on quite a few visits to the harbours around here and I see big piles of it. The best place to actually see it is in Bayshore Village.”
Bowles says the Starry Stonewort is a macroalgae and can easily be spread.
“It gets bulbils, little white, six-pointed stars and that’s how it reproduces. Moving boats around in a harbour spreads that,” he said.
“I wish I could say there is a product you can use, but it’s relatively new in our area. The funny thing is where it comes from in Europe it’s somewhat endangered. It kind of makes you wonder why it’s doing so well here and how do we deal with that," he said.
Bowles encourages frustrated lake home residents to not spray chemicals on Starry Stonewort as it could just make it worse.
“What happens is you kill the aquatic plants and the macroalgae completely takes over in big masses. It will create a big thick layer that will smother all the native plants,” he said.
Bowles doesn’t have a definitive answer on how to put a stop to the invasive species, but he does say the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority is aware of the issue and is working on a solution.
“We are getting these new invasives from Europe and Asia and I think making people aware of it and putting more pressure on politicians to look at ways of mitigating it is the best way to go at this time,” he said.
