Scientists try rubber tarps to suffocate Lake Tahoe's Asian clam

Tahoe City - It's a big experiment with a very high price, but scientists have decided to try to prevent the continued population expansion in Lake Tahoe's blue waters of non-native freshwater mollusks or Asian Clams.

The Asian clam, about the size of a dime and not native to Lake Tahoe, is threatening the lake. Scientists say they breed rapidly and are beginning to harm Tahoe's ecological balance and established food chain. A big problem is that when they die and decompose, they give off an unpleasant odor. Once dead, their shells fall apart, wash up on the beaches and make walking barefoot dangerous for beach goers. These tiny clams also promote the growth of bright green algae which clouds Lake Tahoe's pristine blue waters. It's a situation Tahoe has decided to try to do something about. KGO in Lake Tahoe reports that the U.C. Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center is laying a rubber tarp on the bottom of the lake with the hopes of suffocating the clams. Gregory Schladow is the research center's director

"What's interesting though is the rate at which they would start to re-colonize in this treated area. If the Asian clam comes back right away, then it hasn't been a success. But what we are hoping is that they won't come back at least for many years and then we will start to get colonization by native species."

These tiny clams were first found in the lake in 2002. It's believed they may have been dumped from residential aquariums into the water, or were inadvertently transplanted into the lake from boats or trailers. American Chronicle reports that they have multiplied to the point where they are burrowed into sediment beneath some Tahoe bays at populations of more than 5,000 per square yard. On Friday, a scuba diving task force called the Asian Clam Working Group began its $1.4 million experiment by splashing down into Marla Bay near Zephyr Cove to cover the unwanted clams with long rubber mats that span half an acre of underwater land. A second half-acre assault will take place in coming days at Tahoe's Lakeside Marina. The effort is intended to kill these critters, which scientists call Corbicula Fluminea, by starving them of oxygen and keeping them from reproducing. When the mats are removed in September, if the project is seen as successful, the task force is expected to seek additional funding to stop the advance of the clams in all parts of the lake.