Two boats encrusted with invasive mussels were stopped by Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks officials during the Memorial Day Weekend.

Greg Lemon of FWP reported one of the boats was at an inspection station at Wibaux. The boat, on its way to West Yellowstone, came from the Great Lakes region.

Adult mussels were found. The inspection crew "hot washed" the boat and FWP then kept the boat until a complete decontamination could be completed. That was done in Bozeman last Friday, June 2 (see photo).

The second boat was stopped after inspection staff at Hardin saw it pass by without stopping at the mandatory inspection station. Montana Highway Patrol stopped the commercially hauled vessel, which was travelling to Canada. Lemon reported that hot water was used to clean the boat, and Canadian authorities were alerted to follow up with more treatment at the border.

A reminder that ALL BOATS, including motorized boats and non-motorized craft such as rafts, canoes, kayaks and paddleboards, must stop at Montana inspection stations.

If your boat hasn't been inspected, don't put it in the water. The stops are usually very brief.

If you're checking your boat yourself, you might miss the encrusted mussels. Many of them are not very big. (see photo below)

little mussel
This is one of adult mussels found last week. (FWP provided photo, Townsquare Media)
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