The province has announced plans to partner with other provinces to tackle invasive species.
Their battle will focus on aquatic species like zebra mussels making their way into our lakes.
Deputy Cheif Chris Doyle of the BC Conservation Officer Service says they’ve been doing watercraft inspections of over 32 hundred vessels.
“124 were identified as coming from high-risk provinces or states…and of those six were confirmed to have invasive mussels,” says Doyle. “Those boats were coming from 33 different provinces or states across north America.”
18 decontamination orders were also filled with 16 quarantined for 30 days allowing the boats to dry.
The agreement the province has signed with Alberta, Yukon, Saskatchewan and Manitoba will allow resource sharing and planning to tackle invasive species.
The BC Minister of Environment Mary Polak says “today, B.C. remains zebra and quagga mussel free, but we need to continue to take steps to keep it that way. By partnering with our western Canadian neighbours, we’ll better coordinate both prevention and response to aquatic invasive species.”