Little Shells, Big Problems

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Thousands of visitors line the roads of Wasagaming on Canada Day, searching for a place to park on Riding Mountain National Park’s busiest weekend of the year. The lake is packed with boats, while families set up picnics by the lake, and kids play in the sand soaking up the summer sun.  

People pull their trailers into their campsites eager to explore the townsite, hike some of Manitoba’s best trails, or treat themselves to an ice cream cone on a hot summer day. 

In August, crowds rush to the main beach area of Clear Lake for the annual free concert, excited to see performers like Doc Walker, Glass Tiger, Trooper, Fred Penner, and many others who’ve donned the stage over the years. 

For decades, this was the reality of Riding Mountain National Park — with its bustling wildlife and stunning nature, marking it one of Manitoba’s most beloved tourist destinations since its establishment 92 years ago. 

But as the park thrived, a growing threat wreaked havoc on eastern Canadian waterbodies and slowly crept closer to Riding Mountain’s crown jewel. 

Parks Canada had been trying to prevent the establishment and spread of zebra mussels in Clear Lake for over a decade, but two years ago, the very outcome they long feared became a reality.  

In November 2023, Parks Canada researchers discovered a clump of 48 live zebra mussels — one of the most pervasive and destructive aquatic invasive species in Canada — in a shallow part of the park’s boat cove in Clear Lake, making it the westernmost waterbody in Canada to be infected.  

Parks Canada began monitoring Clear Lake for zebra mussels in the summer of 2011 through water sampling, before moving to preventative aquatic invasive species (AIS) boat inspections in 2015, and a boat tagging system in 2023. 

Zebra mussel environmental DNA (eDNA) was first found in January 2023 — almost a full year before living mussels were discovered— however, no more samples tested positive until the November discovery. 

It’s now been almost two years since the first discovery of living mussels, and over that time they have had a major impact beyond the water. 

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In May 2024, Parks Canada temporarily banned all personal watercraft on Clear Lake. Motorized boats and human-powered vessels such as canoes, kayaks, and stand-up paddle boards were prohibited from entering Clear Lake, something business owners, cabin owners, and lake users feared since the initial discovery. 

The decision was made over the winter of 2023 after public forums were held in both Onanole and Brandon where anyone — mostly business owners, cabin owners and locals — could express their concerns. 

“We have to protect the health of this lake for the long term. We can go without access for a summer if it has the potential to stop an invasion here,” said Dameon Wall, External Relations Manager of Riding Mountain National Park on the potential eradication of the zebra mussels in November of 2024. 

Wall said Parks Canada and Riding Mountain heard from dozens of people through written letters of support, phone calls, emails, and even quietly at community events reminding them they are doing the right thing.  

“We heard from businesses that were expressing their concern about our decision, and everything was considered before our final decision,” he said. “But there was also overwhelming support for the actions that we took, most people clearly stated their interest was in the health and the wellness of the water.” 

The watercraft ban stayed in place for all of 2024 with the hope of eradicating this invasive species but now, in January 2025, Parks Canada announced they found hundreds of live zebra mussels attached to docks and infrastructure near the east end of Clear Lake, showing zebra mussels have spread beyond the Boat Cove area, where they were originally found. 

After months of back-and-forth communication, Parks Canada officially declared it is no longer feasible to eradicate zebra mussels in Clear Lake. 

With boats, kayaks, canoes and all other watercraft vessels set to return in 2025, it’s leaving some people frustrated, some relieved, some confused, and some wondering if the complete shutdown was really worth it. 

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Kelsey Connor grew up visiting Clear Lake in the summers and started working for the Clear Lake Marina in 2005 as a summer student. Twelve years ago, he moved to Onanole, MB — about three kilometres south of the townsite of Wasagaming — and took over the marina as an owner in 2016.  

Connor worked within Parks Canada’s watercraft regulations for years, but 2023-24 was different. 

From the start of the boat shutdown, business and cabin owners expressed many frustrations with Parks Canada, but the Clear Lake Marina — which operates off the main pier — may have been hit the hardest. 

“We essentially worked harder this year and then ended up losing money,” said Connor. 

“Our business succeeds financially when people go boating on the lake,” he said. “My livelihood is sharing the lake with people, and the reason I’ve been doing it for so long is because I absolutely love it, and this past summer felt personal.” 

As soon as Parks Canada announced the temporary boat ban, the Clear Lake Marina — which has around 60 watercraft including kayaks, paddleboards and boats — was immediately told they would not be able to do any watercraft rentals for the season. For Connor, that news was tough, but not all was lost. 

Along with the announcement, Parks Canada named three exemptions to the watercraft ban. 

1. A vessel from the Keeseekoowenin Ojibway First Nation which allowed for cultural use of the traditional waters. 
2. Boats or vessels used by Parks Canada for emergency or research needs. 
3. The commercial tour boat The Martese that the Clear Lake Marina owned and operated would be allowed to run, allowing thousands of park visitors to experience Clear Lake at minimal risk. This vessel would also be used for monitoring efforts and education. 

In the end, the Clear Lake Marina was allowed to operate the 90-passenger tour boat, but leading up to the summer of 2024, getting that confirmed decision from Parks Canada wasn’t easy. 

“I kept pressing Parks Canada to find out what was going on, because if we were going to operate, we’d have to hire people, we’d have to buy new boats, we’d have to do all these things to get ready for summer,” said Connor. 

“Nothing is official until its official and anything in the meantime can change, so we were trying to prepare from the start,” he said. 

The Marina, which usually staffs over 20 employees, had fewer than 10 in summer 2024. 

“As a seasonal business owner, if an employee comes back for another year, it’s such a big deal. You don’t have to train them, they know what’s going on, you like them, and they do a good job,” said Connor.  

The Marina couldn’t accept new applicants in 2024 and even had to reject employees who wanted to return. 

“Usually, I’m begging people to come back to work for the year, but I had to turn them away,” he said. “It really sucked because it took so long for the park to make their official announcements and I was letting people know in early May that I didn’t have a job for them, that’s normally when they start working.”  

For the marina 2024 was a season full of frustrations and let downs, and while Connor felt support from his family and locals, he also felt the backlash his business was getting.  

“People were angry The Martese was allowed to operate but they weren’t allowed to use their own boat, and it frustrated me because a lot of people believe that The Martese is a Parks Canada operation — the boat is fully owned by the Clear Lake Marina — and thought Parks Canada was keeping their own boat operating but not allowing them to have their own,” said Connor. 

“They would get angry at us, calling us lucky because we were allowed to do cruises, when in reality we were probably devastated way more than any other business in the area.” 

Although frustrated, Connor knew protecting the lake is important for the community, his business, and the future of Riding Mountain. 

“We rely on the lake, and that’s a really good reason to try to keep it healthy,” he said. “We need the lake a lot more than the lake needs us. The lake doesn’t need my business, it doesn’t need this hotel or that restaurant, it doesn’t need any of us to be successful, but we all as businesses and even the community around here all rely on the lake. Without it we have nothing,” said Connor.  

The news of the boat ban was long rumored but was still a surprise to many visitors and locals. On average, Riding Mountain National Park sees around 350,000 visitors yearly, and issues between 8,000 and 9,000 watercraft permits each year according to Jamie Moses, the provinces natural resources minister in an interview with The Narwhal. 

Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew cautioned the federal government about the boat ban calling it a “unilateral decision.”  

Premier Kinew made the case for Parks Canada to hold off on the boat ban and keep Clear Lake open for 2024 to avoid impacts on tourism and businesses much like the Clear Lake Marina.  

Even with someone as prominent as the Premier calling for Parks Canada to hold off on the ban, stakeholders in the park still believed something needed to be done to protect the lake.  

Kyle Bazylo, a cottage owner for two decades, sits on the Clear Lake Cabin Owner’s Association (CLCOA) board.  

When Parks Canada announced the watercraft ban, Bazylo and the CLCOA weren’t thrilled, but ultimately agreed with the decision because they believed there was a strategy in place.  

“It was a short-term pain for a long-term gain,” said Bazylo “For the most part, everyone was okay with shutting all that down, because they assumed there was going to be an action plan.” 

It was after a five-month winter waiting period — where the only thing done was water sampling — that made Bazylo, and many others, lose confidence in the park.  

“In the spring and summer, we saw very little action and had very little communication. So, when the only thing being done was water sampling and the curtain, our support and confidence slowly took a turn,” he said. “Come fall time, I think the opinions of pretty much everyone turned.” 

This “curtain” Bazylo is referring to is Parks Canada’s $843,886 eradication attempt that failed within days. 

At the start of August 2024, a private contractor installed an 1,800-metre-long containment curtain to the bottom of the lake around Wasagaming’s Boat Cove and main beach. It was dislodged by winds two days later.  

“From the start, it was really worrisome,” Connor said. “I understood what the park was trying to do in theory, but the curtain was… that was really bad.” 

“There’s so many people that sacrificed and put faith into the park and getting this done… this whole shutdown was done so the curtain could get installed and everyone put in all of that effort for this thing that failed so miserably,” said Connor.  

Zebra mussels have only ever been successfully eradicated from a select few bodies of water in North America, all significantly smaller than Clear Lake.  

While eradication is possible in some circumstances, it’s virtually impossible to get rid of zebra mussels once they enter a waterbody. Once established, grown female mussels can produce up to one million eggs every year. 

The few successful attempts were done through chemical treatments — like potash treatments— something Parks Canada planned to do before the curtain debacle and another positive eDNA test surfaced outside of the containment zone. 

Parks Canada stated in January even if the curtain and potash treatment had deployed successfully, it may not have helped anyway.  

“Based on size, growth rates and numbers found, establishment likely occurred earlier in the summer, before the curtain was installed,” Parks Canada said in a statement. 

The containment curtain failing was a letdown for Connor, but it was also the beginning of the end for The Martese cruise ship, the only remaining operation for the marina. It was a positive eDNA water sample found around the marina on the August long weekend that shut down Martese cruises all together, leaving Connor no business to run for the rest of the season.  

“We were definitely caught off guard,” said Connor. “They put the curtain all the way around the main pier, and that essentially locked in The Martese… we just couldn’t go anywhere.” 

A statement provided by Parks Canada just after the boat ban was lifted said, “The containment attempt at Boat Cove was based on the best available information and was initiated in the area with the highest potential for zebra mussel establishment. The failure of the curtain was something that demonstrated the limits to using this approach to isolate sections of large, open bodies of water.” 

You can’t say Parks Canada didn’t try, but the outcome seemed to confirm some of the concerns voiced from the very beginning. 

“The line has to get drawn somewhere. The act of the park trying to protect the lake I think is an important one, but the way that it ended up working out leads you to really question if there was any chance of success from the beginning,” Connor said.  

Both Connor and Bazylo hope future communication and decisions within the park change going forward. 

“We don’t have a lot of say with the park,” said Bazylo. Everything is on their terms… We all want what’s best for the park and we’d like to get closer with decisions.” 

“The people that work for Parks Canada want to do what’s best for the environment, and when you get a room full of people that all have that mindset you get a scenario where critical thinking can fall by the wayside sometimes,” said Connor. 

Although Connor believes the marina’s watercraft never posed any risk, Parks Canada was cautious in their approach. They believe any watercraft — whether it left the lake or not — could potentially facilitate the spread of zebra mussels throughout the lake.  

For other businesses in the area, 2024 wasn’t as slow for them as they first feared. There were several worries and claims that some businesses in the townsite of Wasagaming would have a rough year with no boats in the lake, but Dameon Wall and Parks Canada said they discussed with business owners who reported very solid revenue generation. 

“I certainly don’t want to deny any statements of those businesses who feel they were affected by this, we all were, but visitation is a very complex thing,” said Wall.  

Riding Mountain National Park had almost 5000 more visitors between April and September in 2024 than during the same time period in 2023 — when boats were still allowed on the lake — albeit with a “one boat, one lake” system. 

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Pat Rousseau, a former Parks Canada warden, animal biologist, and aquatic biologist, has lived in Onanole since 1982.  

 “When you boil out the bullshit, the [watercraft] ban last year really didn’t affect businesses in the townsite that much. People still came to use the beach, and in the future you’re going to still see that.” 

Rousseau understands the tough road ahead for Clear Lake, but said if there was one thing he could change about the situation — it would be acting sooner. 

“The barn door was open for six months, and now we’re looking for the horses to shut the door. The horses are gone,” Rousseau said while chuckling. 

“This should have started when it showed up in Lake Winnipeg [in 2013]; we should have reacted up here then,” he said. “We shouldn’t have waited until it was way into the infestation in Manitoba. We should have jumped on it right away.”  

Rousseau’s main concern is the future of the local “Clear Lake is a headwater, and it feeds into the Little Saskatchewan River, which goes out at the west end of the lake,” he explained. “That goes down and feeds into anything downstream, so over time everywhere could all end up with that stuff in the water.”  

“What do you do? There is nothing you can do to stop it.” 

Clear lake has one small creek that connects to the Little Saskatchewan and Assiniboine rivers on the west side of the lake. These winding rivers traverse southern Manitoba and pass through rural communities, farmland, and hydro power sites running through Brandon before ending up in Winnipeg.  

Clear Lake is at the top of the watershed and there is a real possibility zebra mussels will flow downstream into these major Manitoban rivers, which could clog water intake pipes for public systems, private homes, or cottages.  

During the 2024 eradication efforts, Wall said zebra mussels “are in essence permanent and they would be all the way from Clear Lake to The Forks and downtown Winnipeg.” This outcome looks like it may become reality in the future.  

Rousseau also pointed out things most tourists and visitors don’t take into consideration, most notably, the effect this will have on the local First Nation communities. 

“They have every right to fish and to enjoy their land that they have there, and the zebra mussels are going to have the same effect, whether it’s the main beach or their beach,” he said.  

Parks Canada has worked with Indigenous advisors from The Coalition of First Nations surrounding Riding Mountain through the entire process.  

In an interview with CBC, Aaron McKay, a member of Rolling River First Nation, said the community was supportive of Clear Lake’s decision to try and eradicate zebra mussels from traditional waters.  

He said he’s invested in the health of the lakes and wants to protect them. He also noted how Parks Canada worked with Rolling River to plan the future of Clear Lake together. 

McKay said in the same interview: “If anything, I am very disappointed in the public… people who don’t listen to the rules, because now it’s going to have a widespread effect on all these communities that are connected to these water bodies.” 

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With the long eradication process failing, almost everyone’s attention turned to the inevitable future of the iconic National Park and how they can maintain its natural beauty and tourism appeal.  

What is known at this time is Parks Canada are allowing boats back on Clear Lake using a “one boat, one lake” system, a program similar to what was done in 2023. They are actively seeking input from stakeholders, visitors, and community members to determine the best long-term approach. 

Either way you look at this situation, devastating or not, Clear Lake is not the first and won’t be the last lake in Manitoba to be infested with zebra mussels. Since 2013 zebra mussels are the fastest spreading aquatic invasive species in the province, now found in nine distinct water bodies.   

Before Clear Lake’s discovery in 2023, Lake Manitoba, Lake Winnipeg, and the Red River were already infested and are all now far beyond eradication. 

Manitoba sees first-hand the devastation these little creatures cause to an entire ecosystem. Lake Winnipeg has a beach covered in shells; you can barely walk there without shoes. Even with 15 years of preparations and protections against zebra mussels and a full watercraft ban, they still found their way into Clear Lake, leaving locals with the stark realization of what they have now lost. 

“Eventually we’ll miss the things that we used to take for granted, like just walking on the beach with our bare feet on the sand,” Connor said. 

Now that the door is closed on eradication, Rousseau thinks it’s time to look forward with new ways to preserve the national park’s beauty. 

“I think the focus needs to be keeping the amenities (beach, swimming, boating) clean and they have to keep pushing education,” he said. 

“Eventually, the shoreline is going to have a growth or be full of dead shells… So, Parks Canada is going to have to come up with some method of keeping beaches clean for people to continue to enjoy,” said Rousseau. 

Parks Canada will continue working closely with the Province of Manitoba’s Fisheries Branch to mitigate the spread of aquatic invasive species through communication and education campaigns, and through monitoring efforts in “high risk” waterbodies inside and outside Riding Mountain National Park.  

Connor says he is still confident his marina business will return to normal in 2025. 

“This place is so beautiful, and people are going to keep on coming here… we believe there won’t be any hiccups getting back into operating because we’ll continue doing what we do in this beautiful place.” 

The marina will run like it used to with boat rentals once again, but Connor will have to comply with Parks Canada’s rules and regulations — whatever they may be. 

“We support the regulations… there are other lakes where the marina and rentals are the only boats allowed, but I don’t want that to be the case here,” he said. “If people want their boats in Clear Lake, they better stick to Clear Lake… if they do that it will be good for the future.” 

Businesses have survived, tourism has survived, and now that boats will be back on the water in 2025 there is one thing Connor and other locals never want to see again. 

“The disconnect in the community really sucked. It was stressful for everyone, and I had sleepless nights over it. Everyone had different perspectives and opinions on what was going on, it was so politically charged, and that was tough to navigate,” said Connor. “It’s something I think no one from here wants to go through again.”  

As boats return, the next chapter for Riding Mountain begins. A divided community will need to unite and grow if they wish to continue preserving the park. Zebra mussels aren’t going anywhere, and now the challenge is learning how to live with them.   

The future of the park seems murky, and it will always be a dance between protecting the lake and the pressure to provide recreational enjoyment.  

Strained relationships are not exclusive to Riding Mountain. Around Canada, national parks face similar struggles balancing the needs of stakeholders with the needs of the environment. For now, Parks’ main concern is the long-term health of the lake and what it could look like in a decade. 

There’s no doubt the townsite will be packed, and people will be enjoying all the recreational activity’s Riding Mountain has to offer this summer, but the long-term question remains: will Riding Mountain continue to hold its charm, or will tourism continue to chip away at the ecosystems the park was created to protect?