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What is being done?
In January, Governor Chris Gregoire gave the
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife $75,000
to survey and kill infestations of club tunicates,
and to conduct research on another invasive of
tunicates. The legislature also provided $175,
000 to accomplish this goal.
The state has developed a draft tunicate response
plan that identifies short and long-term goals
for responding to invasive tunicates in Puget Sound.
The cost to contain, control and eventually kill
club tunicates in the three known locations is
small compared to the potential costs to boaters
and shellfish farmers, and the cost of lost habitat
and displaced native species--especially if they
spread to wider areas of the Sound.
Short-term goal: Prevent
known populations of the invasive club tunicate--Styela
clava--from spreading to other areas in Puget
Sound.
Long-term goals:
- Eradicate known populations of club tunicates.
- Survey areas outside of the known populations
of the club tunicate to determine if it has spread.
- Identify the locations in Puget Sound of other
non-native tunicate species--Ciona and Didemnum--and
develop a long-term strategy to contain and eradicate
them.
- Develop a long-term, ongoing monitoring program
for non-native tunicates.
- Put in place the measures to minimize their
spread.
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