Home → Fish & Wildlife → Fisheries → Aquatic Invasive Species → Zebra Mussels → Zebra Mussel Settling Plate Project
Zebra Mussel Settling Plate Project
Help ensure Maine's lakes stay healthy!
With the recent discovery of invasive zebra mussel infestations so close to the Maine border in Canada, Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife is looking for volunteers to help with a pilot project to monitor for potential spread. If you live on or commonly recreate on lakes in the northern part of the state, you may be able to help!
Zebra mussel infestations can be easily monitored for with a tool called settling plates, where zebra mussels may attach once past their larval stage. Routine visual checks of these settling plates by volunteers will allow quick detection of any new zebra mussel infestation. These settling plates are a simple monitoring option that can be easily constructed with the use of supplies commonly found in hardware stores and deployed by anyone with access to a dock or other structure that can be utilized for tying the settling plate to.
These settling plates should be deployed into the water body in May, inspected every 2-3 weeks for any potential zebra mussel attachment, and removed from the lake in October.
View Project Guide for Volunteers (PDF)
Some lakes are more vulnerable to zebra mussel establishment due to their natural water chemistry, so we are particularly interested in volunteers who may be able to deploy and monitor these settling plates in the lakes listed below.
If you live on a lake, are a member of a lake association, or a member of another group or business with an active interest in helping to preserve the health of a lake and would like to be involved, please fill out this form to express your interest and learn more about the settling plate project.
This settling plate project began in May of 2024.
I am interested in volunteering!
For more information please email AIS.IFW@maine.gov.
Priority Waters
We are primarily looking for assistance in the provided list of water bodies within Aroostook and Piscataquis counties. If you are interested in participating in this project on a water body outside of these lakes, you are encouraged to complete the form and provide the lake name and county. We will determine the necessity of this program on that water body based on the threat zebra mussels may pose there and prioritize our resources accordingly. Thank you for your interest.
| Waterbody | County |
|---|---|
| Beau Lake | Aroostook |
| Glazier Lake | Aroostook |
| Arnold Brook Lake | Aroostook |
| Chase Lake | Piscataquis |
| Conroy Lake | Aroostook |
| Cross Lake | Aroostook |
| Deboullie Pond | Aroostook |
| Denny Pond | Aroostook |
| Echo Lake | Piscataquis |
| Echo Lake | Aroostook |
| First Pelletier Brook Lake | Aroostook |
| Hanson Brook Lake | Aroostook |
| Long Lake | Aroostook |
| Millinocket Lake | Piscataquis |
| Mud Lake | Aroostook |
| Nickerson Lake | Aroostook |
| Portage Lake | Aroostook |
| Pushineer Pond | Aroostook |
| Saint Froid Lake | Aroostook |
| Spider Lake | Piscataquis |
| Square Lake | Aroostook |
| Trafton Lake | Aroostook |
| Spaulding Lake | Aroostook |
| Fischer Lake | Aroostook |
| McLean Lake 1 | Aroostook |
| Monson Pond | Aroostook |
| Wallagrass Lakes | Aroostook |
Curious to learn more about invasive zebra mussels? Please visit the zebra mussel page.