Agency official warns silty pond mussel threatens New Jersey freshwater mussels

An agency official warned that the silty pond mussel — formerly called the Chinese pond mussel — is one of the newer invasive species in New Jersey and poses a “significant threat to our native freshwater mussels and ecosystems,” the official said.

The official said the species was first discovered in New Jersey around 2010 after a former aquaculture and fish-farm facility was purchased for land preservation, when surveyors documented a large population of freshwater mussels at the site. The official said the mussels can reach about the size of an American football and that, at high densities, they change water chemistry and remove nutrients from the water.

Those ecological effects, the official said, allow the invasive mussel to outcompete native species for space and nutrients. “They actually alter the water chemistry,” the official said. “They remove all the nutrients in the water environment, so they outcompete the native species for space and for nutrient, and we want to keep it contained to where it is and hopefully eradicate it.”

Officials are conducting targeted surveys throughout the Wicicoke drainage, where the species was documented, and in other waterways that may be affected. The speaker said the work includes both field surveys and laboratory research to understand the infestation and options for control and containment.

There was no formal vote or policy action recorded in the transcript; the speaker described continuing monitoring and research and indicated containment and eradication are goals but did not report any completed eradication or regulatory action. The surveys and research are ongoing, and no specific timeline or funding breakdown was specified.