- Inspect your boat, trailer, and equipment and remove any visible plants, animals, or mud before leaving a waterbody.
- Drain water from your boat, motor, live well and bilge before leaving a waterbody.
- Dispose of unwanted bait in the trash. Never release fish, animals or plants into a waterbody unless they came from that waterbody.
- Rinse or dry your boat, trailer, and fishing equipment to remove or kill species that were not visible when you left a waterbody. Before transporting to another waterbody, rinse with high pressure and/or hot (104 degrees) water or dry for at least five days.
- Learn to identify aquatic nuisance species and report any suspected sightings to the nearest DNR fisheries station.
What the Iowa DNR Aquatic Invasive Species Program does
- Conduct vegetation surveys to detect new infestations of aquatic invasive plants.
- Treat new infestations of aquatic invasive plants.
- Conducts watercraft inspections statewide.
- Zebra mussel dive surveys on Clear Lake and Lake Rathbun to study population dynamics.
- Zebra mussel sampling on interior rivers and lakes to detect zebra mussel infestations.
- Educational outreach with boaters, schools, and user groups.
Aquatic Invasive Species Law
It is illegal to possess, introduce, purchase, sell, or transport aquatic invasive species in Iowa except when a species is being removed from watercraft and equipment, is caught and immediately killed or returned to the water from which it came, or is being transported in a sealed container for identification purposes. It is also illegal to introduce any live fish, except for hooked bait, into public waters.