Wisconsin Sea Grant's Efforts to Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!

Aquatic invasive species (AIS) are an issue that spans jurisdictions and watersheds, and the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant Institute’s research, outreach, and communication programming works to understand invasions and reduce invasion risk across all waters. The cornerstone of Wisconsin Sea Grant’s AIS prevention efforts are its education and outreach programs, including coordinating watercraft inspections across the Great Lakes coast, providing AIS programming at statewide trade shows, and distributing AIS educational resources to partners across the state. Wisconsin Sea Grant also works to provide current research to stakeholders that can readily apply it. Recent examples of this include research to understand the invasion risk of wakeboard boats, compiling a review of Asian carp research, hosting an invasive organisms in trade symposium, and efforts to help professional fishing tournaments prevent the spread of AIS. These efforts have not only helped prevent new invasions into Great Lakes waters, but they have also helped AIS partners across basins, including the Mississippi River basin, Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers!