By Nick Simonson

This spring, as ice peels back from area lakes and rivers and angling and boating opportunities begin to open up, members of the North Dakota Game & Fish Department (NDG&F) are enlisting the help of those using watercraft of all sorts to help the agency prevent the spread of aquatic nuisance species (ANS) in the state.  With the annual NDG&F ANS awareness week set for May 3 through May 9, it’s a good time for all users of North Dakota’s lakes and rivers to take stock of ANS in the region and do those things they can to help stop the spread of species such as zebra mussels, Eurasian water milfoil, and others which impact fishing, water usage, and downstream interests such as municipal water systems, according to Ben Holen, NDG&F ANS Coordinator.

“The key thing regardless of if it’s an infested lake or not is that people should be taking steps to mitigate ANS concerns each and every time they go out and recreate on their local water body,” Holen advises, “the simplest thing is to follow our regulations, making sure you clean, drain and dry every single time, making sure that there’s no mud, aquatic vegetation, or plants or animals left on your boat when you’re done recreating,” he concludes, adding that seven days of drying time helps prevent species from moving between water bodies. 

In 2025, North Dakota did see some spread of ANS, with notable detections of zebra mussels occurring in the northwestern corner of the state at Smishek Lake.  Additionally, the expansion of Eurasian water milfoil in the Missouri River system was detected last year. In light of these events, the NDG&F is calling on anglers and boaters to be vigilant this season in their water use, report any occurrences or suspected infestation of ANS in their waters, and most importantly, clean, drain and dry their watercraft before each launching to prevent the spread of these species to major waters such as Lake Sakakwea and Devils Lake, both of which have no detected zebra mussel populations at this time.

“This past year we have several new infestations around the state,” Holen prefaces, adding, “we had a zebra mussel expansion in the northwest part of North Dakota. Before that, mussels were only located in the eastern portion of North Dakota, so mussels were discovered at Smishek lake, and that’s something people up in the northwest should be aware of.”

In addition to the headline-grabbing species such as zebra mussels, the NDG&F is hoping the awareness week will help the public identify and work toward halting other invasive species that are lesser known, but no less troublesome for area waters should they gain a foothold in North Dakota. Those to be on watch for, especially as they’re just over the border in states like Minnesota and South Dakota, are Chinese and Japanese mystery snails and starry stonewort.  NDG&F continues its plan in 2026 to deploy more inspectors at boat launches to help anglers detect all invasive species and prevent their spread into local lakes and flows.

“Every year we try to bolster our watercraft inspection program so we’re specifically targeting areas of high traffic and high risk. We’re getting out there and educating boaters about clean, drain, dry, and also finding potential fouled boats and then dealing with them when they come.  We raise ANS awareness through a bunch of different education campaigns.  Here in North Dakota, we’re constantly monitoring water bodies. Last year we monitored over 180 water bodies for ANS, that basically will help us determine and notify the public early on these infestations so they can take proper steps before going to their water body and make sure they’re aware of what’s out there,” Holen details of the agency’s efforts.

More information on ANS awareness week, invasive species and infested waters, and more importantly, what anglers and boaters can do to keep them at bay from North Dakota waters, can be found on the NDG&F website at gf.nd.gov/ans.

Simonson is the lead writer and editor of Dakota Edge Outdoors.

Featured Photo: Yipes! Stripes!  Zebra mussels remain the headline invasive species in the battle against ANS, as they can alter a water body in just a handful of years and have significant impact on fish populations and angling quality. Simonson Photo.