Rubber mats ridding Tahoe of invasive clams
By Jeff Delong, Reno Gazette-Journal
Rubber mats laid atop beds of Lake Tahoe’s invading clams seem to have done their deadly job.
Last week, divers removed mats from two half-acre-sized swaths of clam-infested lake bottom. While data still are being analyzed, the test indicates the mats appear to be the most effective weapon against Tahoe’s Asian clam population, experts said Monday.
“There are definitely lots of visibly dead clams,” said Kim Boyd, an invasive species specialist with the Tahoe Resource Conservation District. “It looks very promising.”
The mats, measuring 10 feet wide and 100 feet long, kill clams by robbing them of oxygen and nutrients. The mat were laid on the lake bottom last July at Marla Bay and South Lake Tahoe’s Lakeside Marina.