SCUBA divers from three different Fish and Wildlife Service offices came together in September to assist the Mussel Coordination Team in mapping the Mississippi River between the Ford Dam and the mouth of the Minnesota River. 

The Mussel Coordination Team is a multi-agency group whose purpose is to protect and reestablish populations of the Federally Endangered Higgins eye pearlymussel in the Upper Midwest. 

Divers from Genoa National Fish Hatchery, Twin Cities Field Office and the La Crosse National Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office spent eight days on the bottom of the Mississippi River digging quadrats in order to locate areas with the highest densities of native mussels.

These Region 3 divers were given topside support from the Army Corp of Engineers and Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.   

Over 220 quadrats were collected resulting in 500 individuals being collected representing 16 species of mussels.  Absent from the samples were the invasive zebra mussels that have caused havoc in the lower reaches of the Mississippi River. 

The data collected during this survey will provide the Mussel Coordination Team the best information possible for establishing relocation sites for the 5,000 three year old mussels scheduled to be released later in September.