The Alberta government is re-establishing its Aquatic Invasive Species Task Force to protect the province’s lakes and rivers from threat posed by invasive mussels and fish.
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Led by Calgary-Lougheed MLA Eric Bouchard, the revived task force will collaborate with environmental, agricultural and academic partner organizations to strengthen education, monitoring and cross-jurisdictional prevention efforts.
“Our waterways face growing threats from aquatic invasive species,” said Grant Hunter, minister of environment and protected areas. “We are relaunching a task force to build on previous work, combine expertise and resources, prevent invasive species spread and safeguard our water bodies for generations.”
Invasive species such as zebra and quagga mussels pose severe ecological and economic risks. If established, they can rapidly disrupt local aquatic ecosystems, clog municipal and agricultural water infrastructure and cost millions of dollars in damages.
Alberta waters currently remain free of invasive mussels. So far in 2026, provincial inspection teams have intercepted eight watercraft carrying the species, following 13 detections in 2025. All contaminated watercraft intercepted had entered from eastern Canadian provinces or the United States.
The task force builds on an initial 2024 iteration, which put forward seven recommendations that were accepted by the province and are currently being implemented. The provincial government invested more than $10 million into prevention in Budget 2026, funding 12 watercraft inspection stations, two decontamination sites in Edmonton and Lethbridge, and three Conservation K-9 units.
“Protecting Alberta’s lakes and waterways from aquatic invasive species requires strong partnerships and a shared commitment to prevention,” said Bouchard. “This task force will strengthen our provincial program, advance long-term solutions and ensure Alberta remains prepared.”
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