Samuel Chan's (Oregon State University) presentation at the E-Aquarium Conference 2021. In the late winter of 2021, invasive zebra mussels were discovered in popular “Marimo Moss Balls” imported from Eastern Europe and sold in large pet, plant nursery and home decorator retailers across the USA. The unanticipated arrival of zebra mussels “moss balls”(actually a unique form of filamentous algae) circumvented an extensive network of programs designed to prevent the spread of the mussels which have caused hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to water infrastructure, ecosystems and recreation.

https://extension.oregonstate.edu/community-vitality/community-science/pest-alert-invasive-zebra-mussels-arrive-oregon-moss-balls

Though the highly popular moss balls are not invasive, the incident highlights biosecurity risks from invasive species associated with increasingly popular hobbies. The threat was contained through a collaborative rapid incident response effort between agencies, the pet trade and hobbyists. The success of this effort highlights the important roles that hobbyists, the aquarium trade and agencies can have to prevent the establishment and spread of harmful organisms. In doing so, hobbyists have not just furthered their hobby but are important partners in sustainability. We will go behind the scenes on the case of the Marimo Moss Balls and share other cases of success (and some not successful).