Foreign water fleas trouble in Canada

KINGSTON, Ontario, May 6 (UPI) -- Freshwater fishermen in Ontario are being asked to help stop the spread of a non-native water flea by a Queen's University biologist in Kingston.

The spiny water flea, has made its way into more than 100 North American lakes after arriving in the ballast water of an ocean-going ship from Europe or Asia and Dr. Shelley Arnott said the fleas are consuming plankton needed by larger fish.

She told the Kingston Whig-Standard newspaper plankton levels are down by as much as 70 percent where the fleas have colonized.

While her research isn't complete, she said anglers and boaters could help prevent the spread of the fleas' larvae by letting their fishing lines, nets and other gear dry completely between fishing expeditions on separate lakes, the newspaper said.

"It's such a simple thing for the general public to do and yet it could make a big difference in the way that our lake ecosystems function," she said.